Equity, access and social class bias in higher education in kenya

Higher education institutions in the world over play a fundamental role in the social and economic life of a country. This is reflected in respective government policy documents and in the level of budgetary allocation these institutions receive (GOK, 1976; 1981; Ziderman And Albrecht, 1995). Higher education promotes National growth and development, defines the quality of the society we live in, the ability of the society to react to change and equips man for adaptation to various environments. The concern for equity (or equality of opportunity) access and social class bias has been and continues to be a strong motivating factor underlying governments` intervention in the education sector. The Government has demonstrated its commitment to addressing these issues through various policy documents. The principal objective of these government policy documents has been to provide an effective and efficient education system that serves well the wider interests of society. That is, an education system that aims at removing social injustices and disparities between regions, sexes, social and economic groups and that equalizes economic opportunities among all the citizens. Equity issues and equality of educational access and participation considerations have also been the over-riding objectives of Kenya’s educational reforms since it attained its political independence from Britain forty-three years ago.Despite these efforts higher education is still characterized by disparities arising out of inequality of opportunity, access and social class bias. This paper therefore examines the distributive impact of higher education in particular issues relating to access, equity and social class bias, and recommends policy options to address these challenges.