Education is a priority area across East Africa and huge investments have been poured into the sector by governments, the donor community and parents. Recent years have seen school enrolment soar to an all time high. Every child is expected to attend school and acquire knowledge and abilities necessary to thrive in the world.

The key question now is, are Kenyan children better off as a result of the expansion of schooling? Are children acquiring the basic skills expected of them? Are our children learning?

Uwezo, meaning ‘capability’ in Kiswahili is a four year initiative to improve competencies in numeracy and literacy among children aged 6-16 years in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda through an innovative, civic-driven and public accountability approach to social change. In Kenya, the initiative is anchored within the Women Educational Researchers of Kenya (www.werkenya.org) and regionally within Twaweza (www.twaweza.org).

Each year an Annual Learning Assessment report (ALA) will be published and the information distributed in a comprehensive and simple manner that can be understood by all citizens. The ALA Kenya 2010 is the first ever to be published. The full report can be downloaded on www.uwezo.net

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