Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children in Kenya have access to high quality education.

As one of the largest donors to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), DFID is helping to ensure that children in Kenya have access to high quality education. GPE supports the Government of Kenya to develop national education sector plans, improve early grade mathematics and strengthen school management systems. Through UK support to the Girls’ Education Challenge, we are also improving learning opportunities and outcomes for Kenya’s most marginalised girls.

In partnership with the Kenyan Ministry of Education in 2015, DFID provided funding to rigorously test a new structured approach to early grade teaching. The approach helped teachers better meet the needs of all students, provided continual coaching and monitoring, and improved teaching materials. The Kenyan Government scaled the approach nationwide. Independent research shows this reform led to the percentage of grade two children meeting learning benchmarks in English rising from 34% to 65%.