The 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) report has revealed that only 20 per cent of women in Kenya have been able to further their studies past secondary school.
The survey was conducted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) in conjunction with the Ministry of Health among other stakeholders.
The survey which was carried out for the seventh time since 1989, was aimed at offering both the National and County governments the relevant information that they need to implement, plan and evaluate the population and health policies, projects and programs.
The stakeholders will use the results of the survey to determine the call to action regarding the seemingly low percentage of women who are managing to pursue further studies past their secondary school.
In the report, KNBS also reveals that the percentage of women lacking formal education is higher than that of men.
"6% of women and 3% of men have no formal education. 91% of women and 94% of men are literate," the report stated.
According to the results, Kenya has more illiterate women than men, which is even worsened by the fact that even those who go through secondary education to acquire literacy do not go beyond that.
Shockingly, the report also highlights that 37 per cent of girls and 40 per cent of boys aged 6-9 years have not attained any form of education.
Women education and wealth
The KDHS survey report also explains the relationship between wealth and the attainment of education.
“The proportion of the population with more than secondary education increases with an increase in wealth, with the highest percentage of women (33%) and men (38%) in the highest wealth quintile," the report read.
The report indicates that men are on the higher edge of the wealth quintile, with women lagging behind at 33 per cent.
The number of women attaining education registered a sharp increase from 19% in the year 1998 to 23% in 2003 but has since been registering a drop up to 13% in the year 2022.
The number of men that attained education also increased from 10% in 1998 to 16% in 2003.
The increase in the number of both men and women attaining education in the year 2003 could be attributed to the introduction of the Free Primary Education Programme, launched by the late former Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in 2003.
Over the years, human rights and women's societies have championed the empowerment of the girlchild and women in general, but according to the report, there has been a very slow change despite the interventions.
Several challenges have glared at the girlchild, right from early marriages, female genital mutilation, rape cases, discrimination and exception from education based on gender in some communities and so many others, which perhaps have contributed to the low outcome of those going past secondary school.
The government has driven efforts to curtail certain practices like early marriages and female genital mutilation, but as per the results of the KDHS survey, there is still much that needs to be done.
