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Title: Ethnic Favouritism in Primary Education: Evidence from Kenya

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2016

ISBN: 978-0- 9942689-2-1

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Abstract: Kenya has experienced widespread disparities in primary educational attainment across its different ethnic groups, whose geographical concentration retains the hallmarks of colonial administrative legacy. By investigating the co-ethnicity of Kenya’s primary school children with the country’s sitting presidents from 1963 through 2005, this study measures the effect of ethnic favouritism on educational attainment by drawing on data from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) and the official population census. Results indicate that while ethnic favouritism occurs, the disparities in educational attainment are largely due to early exposure to education during the colonial era; moreover, co-ethnicity is not the sole defining factor of favouritism, which was found to operate at the district level (i.e., the greater the share of the co-ethnic population, the greater the favouritism and disadvantage of non-coethnics). Conversely, co-ethnics in non-dominant districts do not benefit from co-ethnicity with the president.

Url: http://afsaap.org.au/assets/14-Jia-Li.pdf

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Authors: Li, Jia

Conference Name: African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP) Annual Conference

Publisher Location: The University of Western Australia.

Data Collections: IPUMS International

Topics: Education, Other, Poverty and Welfare, Race and Ethnicity

Countries: Kenya