Grade 6 learners struggling with Grade 3 maths – study

Three out of 10 Grade 6 learners in Kenya cannot solve Grade 3 mathematics problem, data from second Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment released by Usawa Agenda shows.

The study found basic reading and writing skills are improving, but mathematics performance remains largely stagnant.

“The national-level foundational literacy learning outcomes are improving, but numeracy learning outcomes are not,” the report stated.

It noted sharp inequalities in learning where arid and semi-arid land counties still host the highest number of out-of-school children, while learners in refugee community schools performed significantly below peers in public and private schools.

Data from the Ministry of Education from the 2025 Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) showed of 1,130,459 learners assessed nationally for the senior school, only 32.44 per cent met or exceeded expectations in mathematics, making it the weakest subject in this cohort.

Education CS Julius Ogamba acknowledged the shortfall, noting while learners performed better in languages and humanities, mathematics, which is crucial for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields lagged behind other subjects.

The 2025 assessment covered 41,156 households, 81,074 children reached and out of this, 49,835 assessed learners were aged 10–15 years (Grades 3–9).

Some 1,527 primary schools were assessed and they had a combined population of 1,017,910 learners. They had 530,704 pupils in primary school, 340,691 in junior school and 146,515 in ECDE.

The learners were tested using Grade 3-level literacy and numeracy tasks, administered directly in households to include both in-school and out-of-school children.

Usawa Agenda executive director Emmanuel Manyasa said the assessment captures how home environment and school conditions influence learning during Kenya’s transition to the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).

“Underinvestment risks aborting the well-meaning educational transition with unimaginable consequences for many generations,” he warned.

The report came as Kenya manages the first cohort of CBC learners entering senior school, a period marked by debates over funding, capacity and readiness.

Manyasa said these challenges are not unique to Kenya, noting global disruptions in education financing.

Previous assessments show slow progress and point out persistent foundational gaps. The 2021 Uwezo learning assessment found that only 40 per cent of Grade 4 learners achieved foundational English literacy proficiency.

Children whose mothers had tertiary education were up to 80 per cent more likely to meet reading expectations than those whose mothers had primary schooling.

It showed girls with disabilities faced high dropout rates, with one in five out of school, and 30 per cent of preschool children were out of school, and another 30 per cent were overage for their class.

The 2023 Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (Flana) report also pointed out some gaps noting one in five school-age children in non-educated households out of school and three in 10 Grade 6 learners failing to read Grade 3 English texts.

The World Bank’s 2023 Learning Poverty Update estimates seven in 10 children in sub-Saharan Africa cannot read and understand a simple text by age 10.

Unesco’s Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report (2024) warns numeracy loss is more severe and slower to recover than literacy after Covid-19 school disruptions.

Unicef Kenya has previously warned that inequality in early learning risks undermining the objectives of CBC reform.

Unicef Kenya education specialist Joseph Munyi noted in 2024 numeracy requires consistent guided practice, which many disadvantaged learners are not receiving at home or in overcrowded classrooms.

Experts say numeracy weaknesses will complicate future STEM-focused learning under CBC.

Manyasa said the new data should inform junior school readiness and the interventions needed to ensure learners progress successfully.

“A just education is the foundation of a just society. A just society is the cornerstone of sustainable global peace and prosperity,” he said.