This study is one of a series of studies that are being carried out at the IIEP and which focus on the issues of financing and managing community schools as well as on the contribution of these schools to the goals of basic education for all in developing countries. Although the term ‘community schools’ may have different meanings in different country contexts, in this study, community schools are defined as schools which are built, financed and managed by the communities themselves, with or without government assistance. This study revealed that these schools are constantly expanding their contribution to the achievement of the goal of basic education for all in the country, despite the many challenges facing them. Despite the long history of community contribution to education in this country, as documented by numerous studies on the Harambee Schools, the recent trend in the development of community schools in Kenya presents different and original features. These new community schools take their roots in economically deprived settlements of suburban Nairobi areas. They have been mushrooming since the late 1980s as the result of a cost-sharing policy that was introduced in education in 1989. They enrolled about 40,837 learners in 2002, representing almost 17 per cent of total enrolment in primary schools in greater Nairobi urban areas according to the Nairobi Provincial Directorate of Education. This study revealed that these schools are constantly expanding their contribution to the achievement of the goal of basic education for all in the country, despite the many challenges facing them.
