Policy Brief: Trends, Gaps, and Policy Recommendations for Strengthening Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Research Ecosystem in Kenya to Improve the Quality of Education
Kenya’s robust education policy framework, aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), the African Union’s Agenda 2063, and the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA) 2026–2035 Strategic Area 3 (SA 3) promotes equitable and quality education. Yet, FLN challenges endure: World Bank (2022) estimates show only 42% of Grade 3 students meet numeracy standards and 53% meet English thresholds, while Uwezo (2021) reports just two in five Grade 4 learners achieve grade-level reading proficiency. This is exacerbated by inadequate teacher training, limited resources, and socio-economic disparities, underscoring the need for targeted interventions.
Various initiatives (such as infusing the teaching of literacy at lower primary in the competency-based curriculum, and the national literacy programs such as Tusome and Kenya Primary Literacy Program (KPLP)) have been introduced to address these challenges. However, systemic barriers, including limited funding and fragmented FLN research, hinder the intended progress.
This policy brief is a summary of the FLN publications mapping that was done by ESSA and the REAL centre. The mapping exercise defined FLN research as studies on reading, writing, and numeracy skills acquired and practised by primary-school-aged children within the education system. It followed the FLN mapping protocol (Binesse, Rose & Silva, 2023) to systematically retrieve publications. For international databases (Dimensions, Scopus, and Web of Science), studies published between 2015 and 2023 were included. For local repositories and non-indexed sources, the mapping covered studies published between 2010 to 2023. These included outputs from national and regional academic journals not indexed in major databases, as well as institutional repositories and websites of international organisations and NGOs.
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