The Kenya Spotlight country report on leadership and foundational learning was launched this week in Nairobi at the first international conference organized by the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI). A partnership between the Kenya Ministry of Education and the GEM Report, the report shows that the efforts being made to lever school and system leadership to drive improvements in foundational learning.
As in the other four focus countries (Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco and Zimbabwe) in the third cycle of the Spotlight series on foundational learning in Africa, which focused on leadership, the Spotlight report on Kenya combined qualitative with quantitative data collected from 60 public primary schools in Bungoma, Nairobi, Mombasa and Tharaka Nithi counties. Responses were gathered from heads of institutions, early grade teachers, Boards of Management and education officials to inform a comprehensive and well-rounded analysis of the system.
Progress in access and remaining challenges
The country report echoes findings from the 2026 Global Education Monitoring Report, Countdown to 2030. Kenya has improved access to education, with completion rates rising significantly between 2000 and 2024, from 54% to 87% in primary education and from 24% to 41% in upper secondary education. Many learners complete their education later than expected. In Kenya, while 60% of students complete lower secondary education on time (i.e. within three to five years of the official graduation age), a significant 24% do so after even more years of delay.
National and international assessments highlight that Kenya is one of just four countries in Africa where more than 30% of students achieve minimum proficiency in reading at the end of primary school. Further improvements will require more targeted support.
Instructional leadership at the heart of learning
School leaders (known in Kenya as heads of institutions) have clearly defined roles spanning instructional leadership, accountability, mentorship and implementation of the competency-based curriculum introduced in 2019. While foundational learning is not always framed as an explicit responsibility in national policy, school leaders in practice show strong awareness of learning expectations for grades 1 to 3. Of all countries examined in the 2025 Spotlight series, Kenyan school leaders spent the most time on instructional leadership, with nearly all conducting classroom observations at least once a week — assessing classroom conditions (98%), giving teacher feedback (80%), and evaluating student learning (76%).
However, gaps remain between policy intent and practice. Tools such as the Teacher Performance and Appraisal Development (TPAD) framework and KEMI training emphasize that school leaders are expected to improve foundational learning, yet only 21% have received formal instructional leadership training. Many, particularly in rural areas, also carry heavy teaching loads that limit time for pedagogical support. The breadth of school leader responsibilities means that targeted leadership training is needed to help them manage competing demands effectively.
The appointment and deployment of school leaders in Kenya is guided by policies developed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to ensure that they meet professional, academic and experiential standards. However, while the guidelines require competitive, merit-based promotion, only 64% of school leaders were appointed through advertised positions, while 32% reported appointments without advertisement, often via internal promotions or transfers.
Training gaps also undermine leadership effectiveness. Although 96% of school leaders reported having received training, only 18% received it before appointment, contrary to TSC guidelines emphasizing pre-service preparation. Kenya is moving to address this through the establishment of the Kenya School of Teacher and Education Management and the Kenya Teachers Training College, which aim to coordinate and professionalize school leader development.
The report highlights the critical roles of middle-tier leaders such as Sub-County Quality Assurance Standards Officers and Curriculum Support Officers in supporting teaching and learning. For example, the quality assurance officers dedicate 28% of their time to instructional tasks and 27% to school visits, with 60% conducting school visits more than once a week. Although this time allocation reflects a strong connection to classroom oversight in line with their mandate, the proportion still falls short of the sustained pedagogical leadership needed to drive teacher development and improved learning outcomes.
In addition, Sub-County Directors of Education show relatively limited engagement in pedagogical support tasks (to which they dedicate just 17% of their time), revealing a gap between their expected supervisory role and a reality dominated by bureaucratic functions.
Community engagement can play a key role in supporting learning outcomes, but its impact depends on the conditions under which it occurs. The development of guidelines on parental empowerment and engagement by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, within the rollout of the competency-based curriculum, illustrate a growing recognition of the role of community. However, in practice, this role remains inconsistent.
Recommendations
The following recommendations emphasize the importance of investing in school leadership, strengthening system-level support, and deepening community engagement.
- Kenya’s ongoing shift to competency-based education calls for a renewed focus on school leadership at every level. This requires strengthening the capacity of heads of institutions with a particular emphasis on instructional leadership for foundational learning. Accountability mechanisms should also be reinforced by linking Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development data (that assess teacher performance) with observation data (collected by officers at the sub-county level) and learning assessment results, to build a more complete picture of performance.
- The sub-county level workforce should be empowered to lead for learning. It should be signalled to curriculum support and quality assurance officers, as well as to education directors that they need to shift from administrative roles toward hands-on pedagogical support, including regular classroom observation, coaching and targeted feedback to schools. Reporting and observation tools should also be streamlined between the Ministry of Education and the Teachers Service Commission to reduce duplication and improve consistency of support. In clusters of schools, continuous professional development sessions should be co-led by curriculum support officers and school leaders, covering pedagogy, remediation strategies and the creation of teaching aids. These cluster structures should also expand beyond mathematics to cover English and Kiswahili. Equitable access for teachers in rural and marginalized communities, including through virtual sessions, should be ensured.
- Strengthening community engagement is essential to sustaining reform. Boards of Management, which oversee individual schools alongside parent associations, should be regularly oriented on their roles in supporting children’s foundational learning. User-friendly guides can help parents understand practical ways to support learning at home, while assessment data should be used to foster joint accountability between schools and communities.
- Education officers should be supported to use data. Simple, real-time tools to report and respond to instructional challenges during school visits need to be developed. At the same time, schools should build their capacity to track and act on learner progress data.
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