A school day in Nairobi, Kenya

Little children start with two years of pre-primary.

They learn through play, talking, counting and making things. At about six years old, they start Grade 1. Then they go up one grade each year.

Kenya's school system is called the Competency Based Curriculum, or CBC. Children begin with two years of pre-primary, where they learn through language, number, environment, creative and religious activities.

At about 6 years old they join Grade 1. Grades 1 to 3 are lower primary, and Grades 4 to 6 are upper primary. Then come three years of junior school, Grades 7 to 9, and three years of senior school, Grades 10 to 12. In senior school, students choose a pathway, such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The Basic Education Curriculum Framework (KICD, 2019) replaced the 8-4-4 system, which had been introduced in 1985. It organizes basic education into three levels: Early Years Education (two years of pre-primary and three of lower primary), Middle School (three years of upper primary and three of junior secondary, Grades 7 to 9) and Senior School (Grades 10 to 12). Learners join Grade 1 at about 6 years of age.

Pre-primary covers five learning areas: language, mathematical, environmental, creative and religious activities. Junior secondary offers a broad curriculum with career guidance so that learners can choose a pathway at senior school, such as STEM. National assessments mark the transitions: the 2026 calendar schedules the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) from 26 October. The structure follows the 2019 framework; the learning areas inside it were cut down in January 2024 (see What children learn).

In Kenya, many people speak Kiswahili and English.

Children learn both at school. Kenya has lots of other languages too. Deaf children can learn in Kenyan Sign Language.

Kenya's Constitution says Kiswahili is the national language, and Kiswahili and English are the two official languages. Kenya has many more languages too: one language catalog lists 68.

In Grades 1 to 3, the rule is that children learn in the language of the area around their school. A UNICEF review found that, in practice, English is used a lot in Kenya's classrooms, even in Grade 1. Children study both English and Kiswahili as subjects, and deaf learners can use Kenyan Sign Language.

Article 7 of the Constitution of Kenya makes Kiswahili the national language and Kiswahili and English the official languages, and directs the State to promote the diversity of Kenya's languages, including indigenous languages, Kenyan Sign Language and Braille. Ethnologue, cited by UNICEF (2016), lists 68 languages for Kenya.

National policy sets the language of the school's catchment area as the medium of instruction in Grades 1 to 3, with English and Kiswahili taught as subjects. UNICEF's 2016 review notes that in practice English is used extensively even in Grade 1, and cites research estimating that about 75 percent of Kenyans have some fluency in Swahili and about 15 percent speak English fluently. The curriculum offers Kiswahili or Kenyan Sign Language as a learning area. Since January 2024, lower primary has also included Indigenous Language Activities, while in upper primary indigenous and foreign languages run as co-curricular programs (Ministry of Education circular, as reported by People Daily).

In lower primary, children learn to read and write.

They do number work and learn about the world around them. They learn to keep clean and eat well. They also move, sing and make things.

In Grades 1 to 3, lessons are called "activities." Since January 2024 there have been seven learning areas, among them indigenous language, Kiswahili (or Kenyan Sign Language), English, mathematical, environmental and creative activities. Keeping clean and eating well, once a subject of its own, is now taught inside environmental activities, and creative activities cover art and craft, music and physical education.

In Grades 4 to 6, the activities grow into eight subjects: English, Kiswahili, mathematics, science and technology, social studies, agriculture and nutrition, creative arts, and religious education. Kenya's curriculum framework also makes computers and other digital tools a learning tool in every area.

KICD's 2019 framework set eight learning areas for lower primary, including Literacy and a separate Hygiene and Nutrition Activities, with ICT as a learning tool in every area. Following the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform, a Ministry of Education circular of 20 December 2023 set seven from January 2024 and cut weekly lessons from 35 to 31: Hygiene and Nutrition moved into Environmental Activities, Creative Activities now cover art and craft, music and physical education, and Indigenous Language Activities sit alongside Kiswahili or Kenyan Sign Language, English and Mathematical Activities.

Upper primary went from ten learning areas to eight, and from 40 to 35 lessons a week: English, Kiswahili or Kenyan Sign Language, Mathematics, Religious Education, Science and Technology, Social Studies, Creative Arts, and Agriculture and Nutrition, which joins agriculture with parts of home science. The framework's stated aim is an "engaged, empowered and ethical citizen," built on competencies such as communication, critical thinking and digital literacy.

At lunchtime, many children in Nairobi eat a meal at school.

The food is cooked in big kitchens. Then it is taken to the schools. Fresh food arrives every school day.

Nairobi City County runs a school meals program called Dishi na County. It cooks lunches for children in public primary schools.

In 2025 it fed more than 316,000 learners every school day in over 230 public primary schools. The meals are cooked fresh in 17 central kitchens, one in each of Nairobi's constituencies, and delivered to the schools. In two years the program served 50 million meals.

Dishi na County is Nairobi City County's school feeding program for public primary schools. By September 2025, according to the Council of Governors' Maarifa Centre, it was feeding more than 316,000 learners daily in more than 230 public primary schools, from 17 central kitchens, one per constituency, and had served 50 million meals in two years.

The county reports that the program has raised attendance and plans to extend it to informal schools. These are the county's own figures; an independent evaluation was not found for this topic. School meals connect to the curriculum as well: healthy eating and hygiene are taught in lower primary, inside environmental activities since 2024.

The school year in Kenya has three parts, called terms.

School starts in January. There are holidays between the terms. The longest holiday is at the end of the year.

Kenya's school year starts in January and has three terms, with holidays in between. In 2026, Term 1 ran from January 5 to April 2, Term 2 from April 27 to July 31, and Term 3 from August 24 to October 23.

Each of the first two terms also had a short half-term break. After Term 3 comes the longest holiday, about ten weeks, from late October until the new year. National assessments, such as the KPSEA, are held at the end of the year.

The Ministry of Education's 2026 calendar for basic education sets three terms: Term I, 13 weeks (5 January to 2 April, with a half-term break from 25 February to 1 March); Term II, 14 weeks (27 April to 31 July, half-term 24 to 28 June); and Term III, 9 weeks (24 August to 23 October). The December holiday runs about ten weeks, from 26 October 2026 to 1 January 2027.

National assessments follow Term III: KPSEA and KILEA from 26 October, KJSEA and KPLEA from 26 October, and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) from 2 to 20 November 2026. Because the calendar is issued each year by circular, check the current year's dates before relying on them.