PART II – ESTABLISHMENT, POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION BOARD

18— Functions of the County Education Boards. 19— Consultation with National Education Board. 20—Composition of the County Education Boards.

21—Conduct of business and affairs of the County Education Boards. 22— Tenure of members of the County Education Board

23— Remuneration of the County Education Boards 24— Co-option.

25— Committees of the County Education Board.

PART IV – FREE AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION

28—Right of child to free and compulsory education. 29— Free Tuition.

30—Compulsory primary and secondary education. 31—Duty of parents and guardian.

32—No payment of fee for admission. 33—Proof of age for admission.

34—No denial of admission.

35—Incentives and prohibition of holding back and expulsion. 36—Prohibition against physical punishment and mental harassment. 37— Holiday Tuition

38— Prohibition against employment of a child of compulsory school age. 39—Responsibility of the government.

40—Duty of a principal or head teacher.

PART V – SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURE OF BASIC EDUCATION

41—Promotion of education. 42—Structure of education. 43—Categories of schools.

PART VI- PROMOTION OF SPECIALNEEDS EDUCATION

44—Establishment and management of special institutions. 45— Regulations in special needs education.

46— Duty of County Education Board to provide child guidance services. 47—Report of child with special needs by County Education Board.

48—Future provision for children with special need.

PART VI I – PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

49—Establishment of private schools. 50—Registration of private schools. 51—Right to attend a private school. 52—Duties and rights of a private school.

PART VIII—GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION AND TRAINING

53—Governance and management of education and training. 54—Structures of governance and management in education. 55—Board of Management.

56—Composition of Board of Management. 57—Qualifications of members of Boards of Management.

58—Functions of a Management Committee of pre-primary institution. 59—Functions of the Board of Management.

60—Annual report on governance.

61—Committees of the Board of Management of a basic education institution. 62—Secretary to the Board of Management.

63—Remuneration of the members of the Board of Management.

PART IX- STANDARDS, QUALITY AND RELEVANCE

64—Establishment of the Education Standards and Quality Assurance Council. 65— Composition and staff at Education Standards and Quality Assurance

66—Powers of the Quality Assurance and Standards Officers. 67—Cabinet Secretary and promoters to be responsible for maintenance of

68—National Qualifications Framework Accounts and Audit 69—Review of standards, quality and relevance.

70—National and international standards and quality assurance 71—Standards, quality and relevance in education.

72—Guidelines on standards, quality and relevance. 73—Policy and guidelines on curricula.

75—Prohibition of development and examination of own curriculum.

PART X- LICENSING, REGISTRATION AND ACCREDITATION PROCEDURES IN BASIC EDUCATION AND TRAINING

76—Licensing, registration and accreditation of persons and institutions of education, training and research.

77—Rejection of application by the County Education Board.

78—Offence to promote without being licensed or accredited and registered. 79—County Education Board to maintain a databank.

81—Rules, regulations and guidelines on quality. 82—Licensing of an institution of basic education and training.

83—Application to County Education Board for establishment of a basic education institution.

84—Examination and assessments.

85—Appeal against decision of County Education Board.

PART XI -FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

86—Financing of basic education. 87—Financial year.

89—Accounts and Audit of departments or schools. 90—School based auditing.

91—Investment of funds.

PART XII – GENERAL PROVISIONS

93—The Education Appeals Tribunal.

94— Establishment of the National Council for Nomadic Education. 95—Regulations.

PART XIII – REPEAL, SAVINGS AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

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97—Preservation of proceedings and rights of appeal. 98—Continuance of periods of time.

99—Preservation of licences, certificates and registration. 100—Transfer of property, assets, liabilities and staff.

SCHEDULES

FIRST SCHEDULE – CONDUCT OF BUSINESS AND AFFAIRS OF

THE NATIONAL EDUCATION BOARD. SECOND SCHEDULE – CONDUCT OF BUSINESS AND AFFAIRS

OF THE COUNTY EDUCATION BOARDS.

THIRD SCHEDULE – ESTABLISMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF

PARENTS ASSOCIATION

FOURTH SCHEDULE – CONDUCT OF BUSINESS AND AFFAIRS

OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

FIFTH SCHEDULE – SPECIAL BOARD OF ADULT AND

CONTINUING EDUCATION

SIXTH SCHEDULE – ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR NOMADIC EDUCATION IN KENYA

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THE BASIC EDUCATION ACT, 2013

AN ACT of Parliament to give effect to Article 53 of the Constitution and other enabling provisions; to promote and regulate free and compulsory basic education; to provide for accreditation, registration, governance and management of institutions of basic education; to provide for the establishment of the National Education Board, the Education Standards and Quality Assurance Commission, and the County Education Board and for connected purposes

ENACTED by the Parliament of Kenya as follows―

PART I — PRELIMINARY

Short title. 1. This Act may be cited as the Basic Education Act, 2013.

Interpretation. 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“accreditation” means the procedure by which the accreditation agency formally recognizes the status of an institution offering basic education and confirms in writing by way of a documentation issued under this Act;

“adult” means an individual who has attained the age of eighteen years;

“adult and continuing education” means the learning processes within the perspective of lifelong learning in which an adult or out-of-school youth is granted an opportunity in an institution of basic education for purposes of developing abilities, enriching knowledge and improving skills;

“adult basic education” means basic education offered as a full-time or part-time course to a person who is above the age of eighteen years and includes education by correspondence, the media of mass communication and the use of libraries, museums, exhibitions or other means of visual or auditory communication for educational purposes and “Adult learning” shall be construed accordingly;

“basic education” means the educational programmes offered and imparted to a person in an institution of basic education and includes Adult basic

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educationand educationofferedinpre-primary

educational institutions and centres;

“Cabinet Secretary” means the Cabinet Secretary for the time being responsible for matters relating to Basic education and training;

“child” means an individual who has not attained the age of eighteen years;

“community” means persons residing in the neighbourhood of a basic education institution;

“County Director of Education” means a Director appointed under section 52;

“County Education Board” means a Board established as an agency of the national Government to serve the relevant county under section 17;

“curriculum” means all the approved subjects taught or programmes offered and includes all the activities provided at any institution of basic education;

“Director-General” means a person appointed under the Public Service Commission Act and responsible to the Cabinet Secretary;

“Duksi” means Islamic elementary institution that offers Quranic education and other related subjects;

“Education Appeals Tribunal” means the Appeals Tribunal established under section 92;

“EMIS” means Educational Management Information System;

“Education Standards and Quality Assurance Commission (ESQAC) means the Commission established under section 62;”

“formal education” means the regular education provided in the system of schools, and other formal educational institutions;

“headteacher” has the meaning assigned to it under the Teachers Service Commission Act;

“ICT Integration and Education” means the seamless incorporation of information communication technologies to support and enhance the attainment of curriculum objectives, to enhance the appropriate

No. 14 Basic Education 2013

competencies including skills, knowledge, attitudes and values and to manage education effectively and efficiently at all levels;

“institution of basic education and training” means a public or private institution or facility used wholly or partly, regularly or periodically for conducting basic education and training and includes a school, a tuition facility, an educational centre, an academy, a research institution, a school correctional facility or a borstal institution;

“Madrassa” means the structural Muslim educational institutions or schools that offer Islamic and other subjects and are laddered from primary to secondary;

“manager” means a person who has been appointed by the Cabinet Secretary in consultation with the proprietor through regulations to coordinate and oversee implementation of education policies and guidelines in non-public basic education institutions and performs delegated teacher management functions;

“mobile school” means a formal flexible institution that allows for mobility of pupils and teachers and is specifically designed to suit the needs of migrant communities;

“National Council for Marginalized and Nomadic Education” means the council provided for under section 92;

“National Education Board” means the National Board for Education and Training established under section 5 of this Act;

“non-formal education” means any organized educational activity taking place outside the framework of the formal education system and targets specific groups/categories of persons with life skills, values and attitudes for personal and community development;

“out-of-school youth” means all persons who have attained the age of eighteen years but have not attained thirty five years and who are not engaged in learning in the formal education system;

“parent” means a mother, father or guardian of a child

2013 Basic Education No. 14 and includes any person who is responsible under the law to maintain a child or is entitled to a child’s custody;

“parent’s association” means an association as prescribed in subsection 53(2);

“pastoral programmes” means the curriculum designed by different Christian churches;

“pre-primary education” means education offered to a child of four or five years before joining level one in a primary school;

“primary education” means education imparted to a child who has completed pre-primary education;

“Principal” has the meaning assigned to it under the Teachers Service Commission Act;

“private school” means a school established, owned

or operated by private individuals, entrepreneurs and institutions;

No. 10 of 2011. “Salaries and Remuneration Commission” has the meaning assigned to it under the Salaries and Remuneration Act;

“school” means an institution registered under this Act that meets the basic prescribed standards and includes institutions offering alternative approaches of multi-grade, double-shift, mobile schooling, out of school programmes, adult and continuing education, distance or correspondence instruction, or accelerated learning and talent based institutions, but does not include-

“special education needs” means conditions, physical, mental or intellectual conditions with substantial

No. 14 Basic Education 2013

and long term adverse effects on the learning ability (other than exposure) or the needs of those who learn differently or have disabilities that prevent or hinder or make it harder for them to access education or educational facilities of a kind generally provided for learners of the same age in the formal education system;

“special needs education” includes education for gifted or talented learners as well as learners with disability and includes education which provides appropriate curriculum differentiation in terms of content, pedagogy, instructional materials, alternative media of communication or duration to address the special needs of learners and to eliminate social, mental, intellectual, physical or environmental barriers to learners;

“special school” means a school established for the benefit of a particular class of children who require some special form of education, treatment or care;

“sponsor” means a person or institution who makes a significant contribution and impact on the academic, financial, infrastructural and spiritual development of an institution of basic education;

“stakeholder” means a person, a public or private institution or organization involved in an education institution and with vested interests for the benefit of such an institution;

“statutory structural adjustment” means a systematic multi-disciplinary process of collecting information about learners for the purpose of identifying and confirming the substantial and long-term impact on the learning process, abilities or educational progress so as to provide educational support based on the assessment or findings;

“teacher” has the meaning assigned to it under the

Teachers Service Commission Act;

“tuition fees” means fees charged to cater for instruction or instructional materials.

Application. 3. This Act shall apply to all institutions of basic, education under this Act.

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Guiding principles. 4. The provision of basic education shall be guided by the following values and principles-

No. 14 Basic Education 2013

PART Il —ESTABLISHMENT, POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION BOARD.

Establishment and functions of the Board.

  1. (1) There is established a Board to be known as the National Education Board.

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Conduct of business and affairs of the Board.

Composition of the Board.

Qualifications for appointment as

  1. (1) The conduct and regulation of the business and affairs of the Board shall be as provided in the First

(2) Except as provided under the First Schedule, the Board may regulate its own procedure.

  1. (1) The Board shall consist of a chairperson and

eight other members appointed by the Cabinet Secretary in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

  1. (1) A person shall be qualified for appointment as the Chairperson of the Board if such person—

chairperson or member

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recognized in Kenya;