RESULTS Launches New Report "From Free to Fee" in Kenya
During the week of March 27, 2017, the East African Center for Human Rights (EACHRights) and RESULTS Educational Fund in partnership with the Global Initiative for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) launched two reports in Kenya. The reports were launched as part of community meetings through which both organizations sought to bring back the results of their reports to the communities where the field research had taken place. The events provided a space for dialogue and the opportunity for all actors involved to commit to work together to ensure the realization of the right to free, quality education for every child.
The Reports
EACHRights’ Low Cost Private Schools: School Choice for the Poor at the Expense of Quality? seeks to identify the role and impact of private actors in provision of education in Homa Bay County. The research targeted policy makers at the county and sub-county level, head teachers, school managers, teachers, parents, and pupils.
RESULTS Educational Fund’s From Free to Fee: Are For-Profit, Fee-Charging Private Schools the Solution for the World’s Poor? investigates World Bank’s basic education investments through its private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The report concludes that despite sometimes targeting the poor, IFC-approved schools analyzed struggle to reach or benefit them. From Free to Fee provides evidence from IFC-approved schools in Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa and recommends the IFC and other investors to fund education services that enhance free, public education systems rather than funding direct provision of private education.
Click here to access the executive summary of the report in Spanish, French, Arabic, and Portuguese.
Homa Bay Launch
On Tuesday, March 28, local authorities, parents, students, and local civil society organizations convened to discuss the findings of both reports. The launch was attended by about 200 people.
Mathare Launch
On Friday, March 31, representatives from the Ministry of Education, parents, students, and representatives from private schools got together at a community hall of the informal urban settlement of Mathare in Nairobi. The event was attended by around 200 people. Media outlets reported on the Mathare event here.
What Happens Next?
After the events, EACHRights, an organization that seeks to promote, protect, and enhance human rights in East Africa, will conduct follow-up community dialogues with parents, students, and civil society in Kenya around the results of the reports and the importance of upholding the right to free quality education.
In Washington, DC, RESULTS Educational Fund, together with EACHRights, ActionAid, Oxfam, GI-ESCR , and the Global Campaign for Education US will host a session during the World Bank’s Spring Meeting titled Free Education and the Question of Low-Fee Private Schools in which both reports will be featured along with an ActionAid report. This session seeks to generate a discussion with the World Bank to promote free education and to increase financing towards national education systems and services that enhance them.
