The Kenyan and Italian middle schools: a comparison of the variations in the quality of education in the sixth grade level

Since the implementation of lower secondary schools both in Kenya and Italy, efforts have been made to provide quality education for all without distinction of race, gender, and social economic and cultural status but various research show this has yet to be achieved. Yet these efforts have given rise to free and compulsory lower education. This paper offers a comparative analysis of the variations in the quality of education among the 6th year pupils in compulsory school in Kenya and Italy. In the Kenyan education system structure 6th year refers to standard six of the upper primary school, which is equivalent to the 1st year of the Italian lower secondary school. Our research shows that in Kenya grade repetition, socio-economic background, pupil age, and gender (at the pupil level) and school resources and location (at school level) are the most important factors accounting for the variations in pupil achievement. As for Italy socio economic-cultural background, gender, age, and ethnic background (at pupil level) and school location (at the school level) were identified as common contributors to the variations in the performance.