APRM • SECOND COUNTRY REVIEW REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA 222. There are social gender, regional, lingual and physical inequalities associated with the education systems that are causing dropouts from the education system. Universal education has not been achieved for all children and regional disparities exist, particularly affecting children from arid and semi-arid lands, which are registering low enrolment rates as noted in the MDGs Final Status, report, 2016. Learners with special education needs face challenges in accessing institutions that meet their needs. By 2010 there were only 10 public secondary schools for learners with hearing disabilities, 3 for learners with physical disabilities and 4 for learners with visual disabilities in all of Kenya.20 223. Overall, the cost of simultaneously funding free primary and public secondary education is immense. High pupil-teacher rates are the norm in public schools and this is aggravated by inadequate building infrastructure and school facilities. In 2016, 759,000 students obtained places in form one in public and private secondary schools, leaving out over 167,00021. Teacher absenteeism and high pupil teacher ratios were also identified as a cause of poor quality education that many feel is symptomatic of the education system. In the insecure regions, children drop out of school or parents cluster closer to urban and secure educational facilities, resulting in congestion in the classroom. The prolonged droughts and insecurity have aggravated the drop-out rates, especially in the arid and semi-arid lands. Poverty is a factor in drop-out rates as children leave class to look for money, food, or work to feed selves. Many children still lack scholastic materials and also Universal primary education does not cover pre-primary education, which is costly for the poor. 224. Gender parity in education: Enrolment and retention of girls in primary school has been problematic in the past. In the past few years, gross enrolment rates for girls have increased and the challenge remains that of retention. For example in 2006 to 2008 girl child enrolment increased to 49.1% but retention dropped by almost a half. By 2009, the net enrolment rate rose to 92.9%, 95.9% in 2013 and fell to 88.2% in 2014 with a gender parity index of 0.89.22 In 2015 the male female enrolment ratio in primary, secondary and tertiary school stood at 1.0. 225. In order to address the gender inequalities in education, the Ministry of Education, developed a Gender Policy in Education in 2007. The policy emphasised gender responsive research and measures to address gender-based violence and sexual harassment in education. Institutional responses involved establishing a National Task Force for Gender and Education, a Ministerial Task Force on Girls’ Education and a Gender Desk within the Ministry of Education. Government sought to address the lower numbers of admission of girls in university by lowering entry points for females in public universities; in 2007 the Universities Joint admission board in affirmative action measures lowered entry points for girls by two points. The Kenya Budget Statement for the fiscal year 2016/2017 allocated KShs 0.4 billion for sanitary towels for girls in school in a bid to increase the retention of girls in school. Kenya Government ‘Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Hunan Rights Council: National Mid Term Report’ September 2012 21 Speech by His Excellency Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, C.G.H., President and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces of the Republic of Kenya during the State of the Nation Address at Parliament Buildings, Nairobi on 31st March, 2016 22 Progress in achievement of Millennium Development Goals in Kenya-Final Status Report, June 2016 20 | 118 |