Case study
In Kenya, in January 2003, the government introduced free universal and compulsory primary education for all children. Making education free has brought a dramatic rise in the number of children going to school, from 5.9 million to over 7 million - and still rising. World Bank Country Director Collin Bruce, praised Kenya for the free primary education programme.
Kenya is a pace-setter in education initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa. (East African Standard, May 17 2005)
However the new initiative was not without problems. Many classrooms were filled to overflowing, with teachers obliged to conduct lessons outdoors. Teacher to pupil ratios of one to 80 - sometimes 90 - were recorded, something that placed a severe burden on the country's teachers. Nonetheless, over 1 million children who had previously been excluded from the education system were able to be enrolled in school.