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Just after independence in 1963, the Kenyan government promised free primary education to its people. However, this promise did not take effect until 40 years later when the programme kicked off in 2003. The Free Primary Education Policy did not only remove the school fees burden off the shoulders of parents but opened up learning opportunities for the disadvantaged and marginalized boys and girls who had never enrolled in school or had dropped out because they simply could not afford the costs.

The fruits of the programme were soon to be witnessed with high enrolment levels, especially in girl-child education being recorded. Within the first week, more than 1.3 million new students were registered and many more were streaming in by the day. The free primary education programme has increased participation and provided children from the poor strata of the society with an opportunity to grasp some knowledge and help Kenya in fighting poverty and achieving its development goals. But it has also created many problems. With increased enrollment year after year, the infrastructure is stretched to the limit and so is manpower. Overcrowded classrooms due to increased number of children is commonplace, and so is inadequate learning facilities. The pupils to teacher ratio has grown to such a high rate that it has resulted in a decline in the quality of education, mainly due to reduced interactivity between teachers and the pupils.

This situation has sometimes led to desperate and ineffectual attempts by the Kenyan government to hire partially trained, or untrained teachers to seal the gap, but it has not bore any fruits. And even though the number of girls enrolling in primary school increases everyday, gender disparity is still a major concern especially in the marginalized communities. The inception of the free primary education programme has seen increased government spending in the sector but schools are still ill-equipped while classrooms are either dilapidated, congested, or both. The worrying scenario for the country's poorest though is that they still have to bear a lot of costs. While the government has waived tuition fees and provides textbooks, other classroom materials such as exercise books, writing materials and other stationery are still the parent's responsibility. This is because the government is faced with budgetary constrains as it tries to strike a balance between funding the all important education sector without compromising on other sectors which also need investment.

The Kenyan government is slowly, but surely working to make education in Kenya better. Other programmes such as school feeding has also helped in curbing dropouts. However, the biggest quandary still is how to deal with overcrowding in classrooms.

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