Primary education and self-employment in the rural informal sector in Kenya: a study of primary school leavers in Suna, South Nyanza District

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Periodical article

Title:	Primary education and self-employment in the rural informal sector in Kenya: a study of primary school leavers in Suna, South Nyanza District
Author:	Shiundu, J. Oyula
Year:	1988
Periodical:	Kenya Journal of Education
Volume:	4
Issue:	1
Pages:	88-117
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Kenya
Subjects:	informal sector school leavers
Abstract:	Report of a study which investigated the efforts of primary school leavers in Kenya to become self-employed in the rural informal sector and the implications for the school curriculum. The study was carried out in Suna location in South Nyanza District. Earlier studies have described the unemployment of school leavers as a major problem and as evidence of the failure of the human capital approaches to educational expansion. Primary school leavers were thought to be largely unemployed and the school curriculum, being too academic and theoretical, was blamed for this. This study shows that, contrary to popular belief, many primary school leavers are not unemployed, but are increasingly joining the informal sector and are engaged in various types of occupation including self-employment. They make use of their school experiences, even of those acquired from academic subjects. Lack of occupational skills does not seem to be a serious problem; other factors, such as the lack of capital and markets, are the major problems. Bibliogr.