Free Primary Education (FPE) in Kenyan public schools was implemented in 2003. The country has so far witnessed increased enrolment rates in public primary schools as a result of this policy.
The Government of Kenya by introducing Free Primary Education aimed at: increasing equity in access to primary school education, eliminate illiteracy, improve living standards and eradicate poverty, and ensure that children from poor families and orphans access primary education.
The Free Primary Education (FPE) policy has led to a significant increase in primary school enrollment in the country, from 8.6 million children in 2008 to 9.9 million in 2012 (Government of Kenya, 2015).
Though a noble idea, the introduction of Free Primary School education has witnessed a number of challenges. Concerns have been raised regarding the quality of education provided in public primary schools. More notable is the poor teacher to pupil ration in schools. Though FPE gave more pupils from poor backgrounds an opportunity to access primary education, the resulting pupil-teacher ratio has some drawbacks on academic performance (Mwendwa, 2011).
