- Infrastructure and Resources - public schools are underfunded, and there are not enough resources for a proper education system.

- Teacher Quality and Motivation - the teacher's education is poorly guided at times, a shortage of qualified teachers - Academic Outcomes

- Admission Policies

- Gender Inequality: More boys carry on to secondary school while girls are made to work around the house

- Teachers - public school teachers are often overworked due to large class sizes and lack of resources

- Families - lower-income parents and families cannot afford private school fees, leading to stress and frustration when their children are disadvantaged despite being bright. A lot of families also make sacrifices when it comes to their child’s education, sometimes at the expense of other family needs

- The government and society - It widens the gap between the rich and the poor, causing the economic and social inequality in the country to increase 

- Economic inequality

- Post-independence centralization - some areas have multiple schools, whereas others barely have one proper school. Rural areas tend to have very small schools based on the primary education system, and later have to move to bigger places to get more education.

Colonial legacy - Education was designed to serve settler and elite interests, creating disparities that persist.

Naftaly, Mose. "Impact of Education on Income Inequality in Kenya." SSRN (Social

     Science Research Network), 26 Mar. 2025, papers.ssrn.com/sol3/

     papers.cfm?abstract_id=5283943. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.

UNESCO. "Education Equity in Kenya." ResearchGate, 2024, www.researchgate.net/

     publication/382390184_Education_Equity_in_Kenya. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.

Ogawa, Miku. "Massification of Tertiary Education and Its Inequality in Kenya: A

     Case Study of Top Students from a Rural Day Secondary School."

     International Journal of Educational Development, vol. 110, Oct. 2024,

     p. 103137, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2024.103137.

Ogawa, Miku. “Massification of Tertiary Education and Its Inequality in Kenya: A Case Study of Top Students from a Rural Day Secondary School.” International Journal of Educational Development, vol. 110, no. October 2024, Oct. 2024, p. 103137, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2024.103137.

UNICEF. “Education.” Www.unicef.org, 2020, www.unicef.org/kenya/education.