Date of publication:

08/21/2025

Kenya

Do domestic laws and policies provide access to secondary education for forcibly displaced and stateless persons?

ANALYSIS

Assessment by population

Refugees
Asylum-seekers
Analysis

Refugees are entitled to the same treatment as nationals in accessing secondary education. According to Article 43 (1)(f) of the Constitution, every person has the right to education. Further, section 34 (2) of the Basic Education Act prohibits any educational institution from denying admission to a child solely based on their refugee status. This reinforces the principle of non-discrimination, ensuring that refugee children have equal access to education in Kenya. Also, section 34(5) explicitly states that no child shall be denied admission to a public school. Additionally, section 30(1) of the Same Act emphasizes that every parent, regardless of nationality or residence status, should ensure their child attends regularly as a pupil at a school or an institution authorized by the Cabinet Secretary.  However, the Refugee Act, has not explicitly outlined refugees' right to education. 

    LAW & POLICY

    Related provisions of domestic law or policy

    The Constitution of Kenya

    Legal provision

    Article 43 - Economic and social rights

    Every person has the right— (a) to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to health care services, including reproductive health care; (b) to accessible and adequate housing, and to reasonable standards of sanitation; (c) to be free from hunger, and to have adequate food of acceptable quality; (d) to clean and safe water in adequate quantities; (e) to social security; and (f) to education. (2) A person shall not be denied emergency medical treatment. (3) The State shall provide appropriate social security to persons who are unable to support themselves and their dependants.

    Basic Education Act

    Legal provision

    Section 34- Admission to Public Schools

    (1) No public school shall charge or cause any parent or guardian to pay tuition fees for or on behalf of any pupil in the school. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1)— (a) tuition fees may be payable by persons who are not Kenyan citizens; or (b) other charges may be imposed at a public school with the approval of the Cabinet Secretary.

    Section 30 - Compulsory Primary and Secondary Education

    (1) Every parent whose child is – (a) Kenyan; or (b) resides in Kenya shall ensure that the child attends regularly as a pupil at a school or such other institution as may be authorized and prescribed by the Cabinet Secretary for purposes of physical, mental, intellectual or social development of the child. (2) A parent who fails to take his or her child to school as required under sub-section (1) commits an offence. (3) A person who contravenes this section shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both. (4) Subsection (2) shall not apply to a parent or guardian who presents within a reasonable time a reason to the satisfaction of the County Director of Education for the absence of his or her child at a school or institutions of basic education.