Access to remote-education tools unequal in Kenya; radio best way to reach most
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Dispatch No. 376 | 22 July 2020
Access to remote-education tools unequal in
Kenya; radio best way to reach most
Afrobarometer Dispatch No. 376 | Thomas Isbell
Summary
As COVID-19 reached the shores of Africa, many governments reacted by shutting down
much of economic, social, and public life in order to slow the spread of the disease. On 15
March, with only three confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country, the government of
Kenya closed all schools and imposed curfews, among other measures. On 7 July, with more
than 8,000 confirmed cases, the government announced that primary and secondary
schools would remain closed until 2021 and teaching would be moved to non-contact
platforms (BBC, 2020; News24, 2020).
While the government and the state-run Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development have
made school programs available via radio, television, and the Internet, critics have pointed
to access barriers for many of Kenya’s 17 million pupils (Daily Nation, 2020; Parsitau &
Jepkemei, 2020).
Afrobarometer survey findings confirm substantial gaps in access to remote-learning
technology in Kenya, especially for poor and rural households. While most Kenyans have
mobile phones, only half can access the Internet that way, and computers are available in
just one-fifth of households. Across socio-demographic groups, radio is the most widely
accessible medium.
Afrobarometer survey
Afrobarometer is a pan-African, nonpartisan survey research network that provides reliable
data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life.
Seven rounds of surveys were completed in up to 38 countries between 1999 and 2018, and
Round 8 surveys are currently underway. Afrobarometer conducts face-to-face interviews in
the language of the respondent’s choice.
The Afrobarometer team in Kenya, led by the Institute for Development Studies at the
University of Nairobi, interviewed a nationally representative, random, stratified probability
sample of 2,400 adult Kenyans between 28 August and 1 October 2019. A sample of this size
yields country-level results with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points at a 95%
confidence level. Previous surveys have been conducted in Kenya in 2003, 2005, 2008, 2011,
2014, and 2016.
Key findings
▪ Prior to COVID-19, two-thirds (68%) of Kenyans who had contact with a public school
said they found it “easy” or “very easy” to obtain school services. And three-fourths
(75%) of all respondents saw the government as doing a good job of addressing
educational needs.
Copyright ©Afrobarometer 2020 1▪ In terms of communications devices that could be used for remote learning, most
households had a mobile phone (95%) and a radio (87%). A majority (59%) also had a
television, but only 19% had a computer.
o Half (50%) of Kenyans had a mobile phone with Internet access. Smartphone
ownership was less common in rural areas and among poor households.
▪ Regular use of the Internet has quadrupled over the past decade, from 11% in 2008 to
44%. But half (49%) of Kenyans still “never” went online as of 2019. Poor, rural, and less
educated citizens were less likely to use the Internet.
▪ Only 44% of Kenyans said they receive reliable electricity from the national grid. Many
others use solar panels, including almost half (46%) of rural households.
▪ Survey findings highlight barriers to participation in remote education, but also the
importance of implementing successful e-learning strategies to avoid a “Generation
COVID” that suffers economically in the future due to lack of education.
Pre-COVID assessments of public education
In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Kenyans generally held positive views of their public
education system. Among those who had been in contact with a public school during the
previous 12 months, two-thirds (68%) said they found it “easy” or “very easy” to obtain the
services they needed from teachers or school
officials (Figure 1).
Poor Kenyans were considerably less likely to
Do your own analysis of Afrobarometer data – report that they found it easy to obtain
on any question, for any country and survey services (60%) than their better-off
round. It’s easy and free at counterparts (67%-77%).1 Experiences also
www.afrobarometer.org/online-data-analysis. differed by region.2 While most respondents in
the Coast (84%) and North Eastern (80%)
regions said they found it easy to get services,
only 59% agreed in Nyanza.
Three-fourths (75%) of Kenyans said the government was doing “fairly well” or “very well” in
addressing educational needs, an assessment that has been consistent for the past decade
(Figure 2).
1
Afrobarometer assesses lived poverty based on responses to the following questions: “Over the past year,
how often, if ever, have you or anyone in your family gone without: Enough food to eat? Enough clean water
for home use? Medicines or medical treatment? Enough fuel to cook your food? A cash income?”
2
For ease of reporting, this dispatch groups Kenya’s counties into informal regions, as follows: Coast
(Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Tana River, Lamu, and Taita-Taveta counties), North Eastern (Garissa, Wajir, and
Mandera counties), Central (Nyandarwa, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Murang’a, and Kiambu counties), Eastern (Marsabit,
Isiolo, Meru, Tharaka-Nithi, Embu, Kitui, Machakos, and Makueri counties), Western (Kakamega, Vihiga,
Bungoma, and Busia counties), Rift Valley (Turkana, West Pokot, Samburu, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo-
Marakwet, Nandi, Baringo, Laikipia, Nakuru, Narok, Kajiado, Kericho, and Bomet counties), Nyanza (Siaya,
Kisumu, Homa Bay, Migori, and Nyamira counties), and Nairobi (Nairobi County).
Copyright ©Afrobarometer 2020 2Figure 1: Ease of obtaining public school services | Kenya | 2019
Total 68% 31%
High lived poverty 60% 40%
Moderate lived poverty 67% 33%
Low lived poverty 72% 28%
No lived poverty 77% 23%
Coast 84% 16%
North Eastern 80% 20%
Central 75% 25%
Nairobi 73% 27%
Western 69% 31%
Rift Valley 67% 33%
Eastern 65% 35%
Nyanza 59% 41%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Easy/Very easy Difficult/Very difficult
Respondents were asked: In the past 12 months, have you had contact with a public school? [If “yes”:]
How easy or difficult was it to obtain the services you needed from teachers or school officials?
Figure 2: Government performance on education | Kenya | 2003-2019
100% 94%
85%
75% 74% 71% 75% 75%
80%
60%
40% 28%
24% 25% 23% 25%
14%
20% 6%
0%
2003 2005 2008 2011 2014 2016 2019
Fairly well/Very well Fairly badly/Very badly
Respondents were asked: How well or badly would you say the current government is handling the
following matters, or haven’t you heard enough to say: Addressing educational needs?
Access to educational technology
Given Kenya’s move to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, students’ access to
the necessary educational technology is of critical importance. While Afrobarometer
interviews only adults (aged 18 or older), its survey findings provide an overview of the
resources to which school-age children might have access at the household level.
Copyright ©Afrobarometer 2020 3Most Kenyans said they personally own or live in a household that owns a mobile phone
(95%) and a radio (87%). Six in 10 respondents (59%) own or have household access to a
television, while one in five households (19%) have a computer (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Household access to communications devices | Kenya | 2019
100% 95%
87%
80%
59%
60%
40%
19%
20%
0%
Mobile phone Radio Television Computer
Respondents were asked: Which of these things do you personally own? [If “no”:] Does anyone else in
your household own one? (% combines personal and household ownership)
Household ownership of radios was high across key demographic groups except for
respondents with no formal education, a group where only 57% said there was a radio in the
home. Household ownership of televisions was more uneven (Figure 4). While more than
three-fourths of urban residents (77%) and citizens with post-secondary education (80%)
reported having a television set in the household, the same was true for fewer than half of
rural residents (49%) and people with high lived poverty (42%) and low educational
attainment (17% of those with no formal education, 43% of those with only primary
schooling).
Figure 4: Household access to a television | by socio-demographic group | Kenya
| 2019
Total 59%
Women 55%
Men 62%
Rural 49%
Urban 77%
High lived poverty 42%
Moderate lived poverty 54%
Low lived poverty 68%
No lived poverty 71%
Over 65 56%
56-65 years 48%
46-55 years 60%
36-45 years 55%
26-35 years 61%
18-25 years 61%
No formal education 17%
Primary 43%
Secondary 65%
Post-secondary 80%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Respondents were asked: Which of these things do you personally own: A television? [If “no”:] Does
anyone else in your household own one? (% combines personal and household ownership)
Copyright ©Afrobarometer 2020 4Access to personal computers was not only uncommon overall but also uneven across socio-
demographic groups. Highly educated respondents were the only group in which household
ownership of a computer approached half the sample (47%) – three or more times the
proportions recorded among those with secondary (15%), primary (7%), or no formal
education (4%) (Figure 5). Urban households were more than twice as likely to report having
a computer as rural homes (31% vs. 13%), and households experiencing no lived poverty
were three times as likely to have a computer as the poorest households (34% vs. 11%).
Figure 5: Household access to a computer | by socio-demographic group | Kenya
| 2019
Women 16%
Men 23%
Rural 13%
Urban 31%
High lived poverty 11%
Moderate lived poverty 15%
Low lived poverty 24%
No lived poverty 34%
No formal education 4%
Primary 7%
Secondary 15%
Post-secondary 47%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Respondents were asked: Which of these things do you personally own: A computer? [If “no”:] Does
anyone else in your household own one? (% combines personal and household ownership)
Internet access and use
While most Kenyans own or have access to mobile phones, being able to access the Internet
via smartphone was less common: Only half (50%) of all Kenyans said they own a phone with
Internet access. Smartphone ownership was more common in urban areas (65%, including
77% of Nairobi residents), among the more educated (84% of those with post-secondary
education), and among those who are economically better off (59%-62% of those with low or
no lived poverty) (Figure 6).
Few respondents with no formal education (9%) or only primary education (26%) said they
could access the Internet via mobile phone. Only about one-third (35%) of those with high
lived poverty had smartphones, as did fewer than half of residents in the Western (30%),
Coast (40%), Nyanza (43%), and Eastern (44%) regions.
Copyright ©Afrobarometer 2020 5Figure 6: Mobile phone has Internet access | by socio-demographic group | Kenya
| 2019
Total 50%
Urban 65%
Rural 42%
Post-secondary 84%
Secondary 56%
Primary 26%
No formal education 9%
No lived poverty 62%
Low lived poverty 59%
Moderate lived poverty 44%
High lived poverty 35%
Nairobi 77%
Central 57%
Rift Valley 54%
North Eastern 50%
Eastern 44%
Nyanza 43%
Coast 40%
Western 30%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Respondents were asked: Which of these things do you personally own: A mobile phone? [If “yes”:]
Does your phone have access to the Internet? (Figure shows % of all respondents who own a mobile
phone with Internet access.)
Afrobarometer data from the past decade show that Internet use has become increasingly
common in Kenya. Since 2008, the proportion of Kenyans who said they go online “every
day” or “a few times a week” has quadrupled, from 11% to 44%. Even so, about half (49%) of
Kenyans still reported “never” using the Internet (Figure 7).
Figure 7: How often use the Internet | Kenya | 2008-2019
100%
80% Never
78%
80%
64%
60%
60%
49%
Less than once a
month/A few times
40% 33% 44% a month
28%
20% 14%
11% A few times a
7% 6% 7%
week/Every day
8% 8%
0%
2008 2011 2014 2016 2019
Respondents were asked: How often do you use the Internet?
Copyright ©Afrobarometer 2020 6Regular Internet use varied considerably by socio-demographic group. Men (53%), urban
residents (59%), youth (61% of those aged 18-25), and more educated citizens (82% of those
with post-secondary education) were far more likely to go online at least a few times a week
than women (34%), rural dwellers (35%), and older and less educated Kenyans (Figure 8).
And citizens with low or no lived poverty (54% and 58%, respectively) were about twice as
likely to be regular Internet users as the poorest citizens (28%).
Figure 8: Frequently use the Internet | by socio-demographic group | Kenya | 2019
Women 34%
Men 53%
Rural 35%
Urban 59%
High lived poverty 28%
Moderate lived poverty 35%
Low lived poverty 54%
No lived poverty 58%
Over 65 years 7%
56-65 years 19%
46-55 years 26%
36-45 years 38%
26-35 years 50%
18-25 years 61%
No formal education 4%
Primary 17%
Secondary 49%
Post-secondary 82%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Respondents were asked: How often do you use the Internet? (% who said “every day” or “a few times
a week”)
Access to electricity
Regardless of which platform is chosen to distribute educational material, modern
technology relies on electricity. Half (50%) of Kenyans said they have a connection to the
main electric grid, and 44% of all households said they enjoy electric power “most” or “all” of
the time from the grid.
Connections to the mains were far more common in cities (83%) and economically better-off
households (67%) than in rural areas (33%) and households with high lived poverty (35%) (not
shown).
The same patterns are clear when it comes to enjoying a reliable supply of electric power
(Figure 9): While 74% of city residents and 59% of economically better-off respondents said
they receive electricity that works “most” or “all” of the time from the grid, the same was true
for only 28% of rural residents and 29% of poor respondents. Kenyans with post-secondary
education were almost six times as likely to report reliable electricity from the grid as those
with no formal education (63% vs. 11%).
Copyright ©Afrobarometer 2020 7Figure 9: Electricity available most/all the time from mains | by socio-demographic
group | Kenya | 2019
Total 44%
Women 42%
Men 46%
Rural 28%
Urban 74%
High lived poverty 29%
Moderate lived poverty 38%
Low lived poverty 52%
No lived poverty 59%
Over 65 years 30%
56-65 years 32%
46-55 years 42%
36-45 years 43%
26-35 years 48%
18-25 years 46%
No formal education 11%
Primary 28%
Secondary 50%
Post-secondary 63%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Respondents were asked: Do you have an electric connection to your home from Kenya Power? [If
“yes”:] How often is electricity actually available from this connection? (% who said “most of the time”
or “all of the time”)
While many Kenyans lack access to the main power grid, almost four in 10 (37%) said they
use alternative sources of electric power. In rural areas, where access to the national grid is
particularly low, just about half (49%) of all households said they use alternative power
sources. Solar panels made up the overwhelming majority (93%) of these alternative sources.
Overall, almost half (46%) of rural households reported using solar panels, along with 14% of
urban households (Figure 10).
These numbers suggest that solar power may be a cost- and time-efficient way to support
implementation of remote learning in an inclusive manner during the pandemic and
beyond.
Figure 10: Use of alternative energy sources | by urban-rural location | Kenya | 2019
Use energy source other than the 37%
49%
national grid
16%
Total
Rural
Urban
35%
Use solar panels 46%
14%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Respondents were asked: Does your house use electric power from any source other than the national
power grid? [If “yes”:] What is the source of the electricity for this connection?
Copyright ©Afrobarometer 2020 8What is at stake?
As is well documented in the literature, failing to provide adequate education to pupils and
students has significant negative consequences in the long run (Harber, 2002; Bloom,
Canning, & Chan, 2006; Gyimah-Brempong, Paddison, & Mitiku, 2006; Agbor, 2012; Beegle,
Christiaensen, Dabalen, & Gaddis, 2016). Afrobarometer data confirm, for example, that
levels of high lived poverty were considerably more common among adults without formal
education (36%) or with only primary schooling (24%) than among those with secondary
(14%) or post-secondary (8%) education (Figure 11).
Similarly, more educated Kenyans were more likely to have a full-time job, ranging from 20%
of those without formal education to 37% of those with post-secondary qualifications (Figure
12).
Figure 11: Lived poverty levels | by education level | Kenya | 2019
100%
8%
14% High lived
24%
36% poverty
80%
30%
37% Moderate
60% lived
37%
poverty
39% Low lived
40%
54% poverty
43%
20% 34%
18% No lived
poverty
7% 4% 6% 8%
0%
No formal Primary Secondary Post-secondary
education
Respondents were asked:
Over the past year, how often, if ever, have you or anyone in your family gone without: Enough
food to eat? Enough clean water for home use? Medicines or medical treatment? Enough fuel to
cook your food? A cash income?
What is your highest level of education?
Figure 12: Full-time employment | by education level | Kenya | 2019
100%
80%
60%
37%
40% 29% 27%
20%
20%
0%
No formal Primary Secondary Post-secondary
education
Respondents were asked: Do you have a job that pays a cash income? [If “yes”:] Is it full time or part
time? (% who said they had a full-time job)
Copyright ©Afrobarometer 2020 9Conclusion
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across Africa, educators, policy makers,
parents, and pupils face uncertainty about the path forward. In Kenya, the government has
halted all in-person teaching at the primary and secondary levels and moved to remote
teaching.
Survey findings show, however, how unequal access to the necessary technology is in Kenya.
While regular Internet use has grown fourfold in the past decade, half of Kenyans remain
offline. This is especially common in poor, rural, and less educated families, who face the
prospect of being left even further behind.
Radio caters to the broadest audience in Kenya, though teaching possibilities are no doubt
more limited than online.
To ensure inclusion and participation in online learning in the medium and longer term, the
government will need to activate plans and investments capable of building e-learning
infrastructure that facilitates access for all students.
Given the linkages between education, unemployment, and poverty, the Kenyan
government must get this right to avoid a “lost generation.”
Do your own analysis of Afrobarometer data – on any question,
for any country and survey round. It’s easy and free at
www.afrobarometer.org/online-data-analysis.
Copyright ©Afrobarometer 2020 10References
Agbor, J. (2012). Poverty, inequality and Africa’s education crisis. Brookings. 26 September.
BBC. (2020). Coronavirus: Kenyan schools to remain closed until 2021. 7 July.
Beegle, K., Christiaensen, L., Dabalen, A., & Gaddis, I. (2016). Poverty in a rising Africa. World Bank.
Bloom, D. E., Canning, D., & Chan, K. (2006). Higher education and economic development in
Africa (Vol. 102). Washington, DC: World Bank.
Daily Nation. (2020). After schools were shut, learners also closed their books. 23 April.
Gyimah-Brempong, K., Paddison, O., & Mitiku, W. (2006). Higher education and economic growth in
Africa. Journal of Development Studies, 42(3), 509-529.
Harber, C. (2002). Education, democracy and poverty reduction in Africa. Comparative Education,
38(3), 267-276.
News24. (2020). Covid-19: Schools in Kenya to remain closed until 2021. 7 July.
Parsitau, D., & Jepkemei, E. (2020). How school closures during COVID-19 further marginalize
vulnerable children in Kenya. 6 May. Brookings Institution.
Thomas Isbell is a PhD student at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Email:
tisbell@afrobarometer.org.
Afrobarometer, a nonprofit corporation with headquarters in Ghana, is a pan-African, non-
partisan research network. Regional coordination of national partners in about 35 countries is
provided by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), the Institute for
Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) in South Africa, and the Institute for Development Studies
(IDS) at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. Michigan State University (MSU) and the University
of Cape Town (UCT) provide technical support to the network.
Financial support for Afrobarometer Round 8 has been provided by Sweden via the Swedish
International Development Cooperation Agency, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the Open
Society Foundations, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) via the U.S. Institute of Peace.
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Afrobarometer Dispatch No. 376 | 22 July 2020
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