What are the causes of inequality in educational opportunities in Kenya?

1. Inequalities of educational opportunities: Inequalities of educational opportunities arise in various ways. In places where no primary, secondary or collegiate institutions exist, children do not have the same opportunity as those who have these facilities in the neighborhood. This should be overcome by the widest dispersal of educational institutions consistent with economy, and efficiency, by instituting adequate scholarship programs, by providing the needed hostel facilities or
by making suitable transport arrangement.
2. Poverty: Poverty among a large section of the population and the relative influence of a small minority acts as a hindrance in achieving equality in educational opportunities. Even if equal basis, children from poor families do not have the same chance as those who come from richer ones. To overcome these handicaps, it is desirable to abolish fee progressively, to provide free books, stationary and even school meals and uniforms and also scholarships.
3. Differences in the standards of schools and colleges: Differences in the standards of schools and colleges create an extremely intractable form of educational inequality. When admission to an institution such as a university or professional college is made on the basis of marks obtained at the public examination at the end of the higher secondary stage, as often happens, the marks do not at all provide a common yardstick for a student from a rural area who attend an ill-equipped
school in his village and a student from an urban area who attends a good city school. To overcome this to some extent at least, it is necessary to evolve more reliable and egalitarian methods of selection, whether for admission to institutions or for award of scholarships.
4. Differences on home environment: A child from a rural household or an urban slum having non-literate parents does not have the same opportunity which a child from an upper class home with highly educated parents has. These inequalities are obviously the most difficult to overcome and here the progress essentially depends on the general improvement in the standard of living of the population. Here, special attention at school can be paid to children from the underprivileged groups and provision of day study centers or boarding houses to overcome this problem.
5. Gender inequality in education: A peculiar situation in Kenyan context is the gender inequality education. There is wide disparity between the education of boys and girls at all stages and in all levels of education. Various steps like reservations for girls in educational institutions of various branches of studies have been effected. Also steps like fee concessions, scholarships and other incentives are made available for girl students in order to enhance girls’ education.
6. Disparity between advanced classes and backward classes: There is a wide gap of educational development between advanced classes and the backward ones-the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. On grounds of social justice as well as for furtherance of democracy, it is essential to make special efforts to equalize educational opportunities between these groups.
7. Absence of earnest striving to achieve equality of opportunities: To achieve perfect equality may be unattainable.
But an impassioned faith and earnest striving is in the direction is very essential. In a good system of education there should be a continuous attempt to identify factors which tend to create significant form of inequality and to adopt measures either to eliminate them altogether or at least to reduce them to the minimum.

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raphael answered the question on August 4, 2021 at 07:50