Presently Kenya has a system of education that is called (8-4-4} system which begins when a child is six years old.

Children between the ages of 3 and 5 years are taken to early childhood development centre which has three stages with one year in each stage ie 1.baby class (play group stage)-3 year old child 2.nursery class- 4 year old child 3.pre-unit class- 5 year old child.

All stages are compulsory to every child before joining class one which is the beginning of the 8-4-4 system. At this stage the child aquire reading, writing and abservation skill, they develop speech and also know sounds of different alphabeticall letters.

8-4-4 means that every child must undergo a compulsory 8 years in primary education, 4 years secondary education and 4 years in university education.

The last 4 years in university is not compulsory because some children do not meet the set qualifications set by the ministry for education to join the university. Some of those who dont join the university opt for tertiary colleges where they take causes in technical subjects and various disciplines.

It takes a period of 2 to 3 years for one to complete studies in a tertiary college.

The 8-4-4 system began in 1985, previously we had 7-4-2-4. By Dancan Imbugwa