iv. Education
26. Most Shona report having attended school at least once in their life, though gender differences
are noticeable. Overall, 89 percent of the Shona population ages 15 years and above have attended
school, including 92 percent of men and 87 percent of women (Figure 20). These numbers fall below the
national averages in urban areas (95 percent). Furthermore, men in urban Kenya are more likely to have
attended school than women (97 percent vs. 93 percent, p<0.01; Figure 20).
27. Shona community children are less likely to be attending primary school than their national
counterparts. As measured by the Net Attendance Rate (NAR) and the Gross Attendance Rate (GAR),
which can exceed 100 percent as it includes overage students,28 81 percent of primary-school age
(6–13 years) Shona community children reportedly attend school (Figure 21). No gender differences in
the primary attendance rates among the Shona community children are noted (Figure 22). The attendance rate goes up to 115 percent when students of all ages are considered, with women slightly more
likely to enroll at later ages than males (117 percent compared to 114 percent; Figure 22). The higher
participation of the Shona community children in primary education can be partly explained by the
free primary education in Kenya and, up until 2018, no identity documents were required to enroll in
primary school. In comparison, 86 percent of children ages 6–13 in urban Kenya attend primary school
(p<0.01; Figure 21), increasing to 105 percent when all age groups are taken into consideration. At the
county levels, nationals who are of primary school age living in Nairobi and Kiambu are about 10 percent more likely to be enrolled in primary school than their Shona counterparts.
FIGURE 20: Distribution of population attended school, ages 15 and above
Percent of population
100
89
95
92
97
93
87
80
60
40
20
0
National
(urban)
Population average
Shona
Shona
National
(urban)
Men
Shona
National
(urban)
Women
Source: Shona SES (2019) and KIHBS (KNBS 2015/16).
28 The NAR measures the attendance status of the official age group for a given level of education expressed as a percentage
of the corresponding population. The GAR is the number of students attending a given level of education, regardless of age,
expressed as a percentage of the official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education. By definition,
the GAR is greater than NAR, and it can exceed 100 percent. The NAR helps determine whether school-age children are
attending school at the correct age, whereas the GAR is important to determine the participation of overage participants,
which is typically a characteristic of school children in developing countries.
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