The Quality of Basic Non-Formal Education

Abstract

RECOMMENDATIONS 1. NFE should be integrated to formal education system to ensure that there is parity in the type of basic education provided 2. Ensure there are sufficient funds to support the operations of the centres and improve on the state of the physical facilities. 3. The Ministry of Education should be involved more in the running of NFE to ensure quality assessment, proper evaluation and at provide a guideline on the least acceptable qualification standards for teachers. 4. Proper records of schools offering non-formal education should be established and availed to the divisional education officers. This report presents the findings of a study on the quality basic non-formal education in selected schools of Kasarani division of Nairobi. The study had following objectives: • To find out the quality of basic non formal education in reference to availability of learning materials, content of the syllabus, qualification of teachers teaching in NFE and whether there are in-service courses and other professional development programs., time allocated to school time and the language and methods of teaching used. • To make recommendations based on the findings of the study on how better to improve the quality of basic NFE The data for this research were collected through a variety of instruments like questionnaires for learners, teachers, and head teachers/managers, observation guide and an interview schedule for divisional education officer. The findings of the study revealed that the difference between formal and non-formal education is insignificant because content and evaluation methods are the same It was found out too that learners in NFE have the same characteristics with those in formal schools with majority of the learners in class seven and eight being in the age bracket of 12-14. The term non-formal is not clear to many because it was reduced to the 'without uniform' schools. The study revealed also that, schools offering NFE were owned by communities and the government had a small role in their supervision. The only tangible support from the government is providing funds to some schools through free primary education fund and this is not enough to improve the poor physical facilities in most of the schools Results of the study also revealed that.55% of the teachers were KCSE certificate holders and had no professional training in the field of education. The teachers did not have an avenue to improve their professional development since there are no in service courses for them. The turnover of teachers was found to be high because of poor pay and also because most teachers who are young look for better alternatives.