Kenyan school system

The Kenyan school year begins in January and is divided into three terms. Between the terms, students have one month of vacation each. The school year ends at the end of November. In Kenya, public education begins at the age of three with one year of kindergarten and two years of preschool. The so-called 6-3-3-4 system is in place. This means six years of primary school, three years of junior secondary school, three years of senior secondary school, and four years of university/college.

Since 2003 pre and primary school have been “free of charge”. Although there are no official school fees, all students are obliged to pay their own school uniforms, books, school materials and money for lunches and exams. If they are unable to provide the necessary money, they are expelled from school. This makes it impossible for some families to send their children to school. Even though the first “fee free” school years gave more children the chance to attend school, the conditions for those studying at public schools are challenging. Class sizes from 50 to 100 students and the lack of teachers make high-quality education almost impossible. Therefore families who want to provide good education to their children have to send them to private schools, which then means that they have to pay school fees. Nowadays, 50% of the schools in Kenya are private.
Hope Menorah Primary School is one of these private schools. We aim for high-quality education for the children without them having to pay school fees as they would not be able to afford this under normal circumstances due to their poor background.

	Public School	Non-state recognized Private Schools	Hope Menorah Primary School (state recognized private school, funding through donations)
Pros	– no school fees – registration in school system – national exams	– smaller class sizes – more teachers	– no school fees – no costs for school uniforms, books, materials or extra money for lunches and exams – registration in school system – national exams – “only” 50 students per class – volunteers assisting during the lessons
Cons	– high costs for uniforms, books and other school materials and extra money for lunch and exams – large class sizes (50-100 students) – lack of teachers	– high school fees – no registration in school system – no national exams	– dependant on donations