Grade 6 English literacy in Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs): A scoping review of national assessment evidence, 2021–2025

Abstract

Grade 6 English literacy in Kenya is monitored through the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and the citizen-led Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (FLANA/Uwezo). However, evidence from these assessments has not been systematically synthesized to establish English literacy proficiency among learners in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). This scoping review maps assessment evidence focusing on three areas: differences between curriculum-level mastery measured by KPSEA and foundational reading proficiency assessed through FLANA/Uwezo; English literacy proficiency among Grade 6 learners in ASAL counties; and achievement inequalities across rural–urban, public–private, and community contexts.Guided by the Arksey and O’Malley framework, refined by Levac et al., and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a systematic desk review was conducted in January 2026. Searches covered institutional repositories, Google Scholar, ERIC, AJOL, and citation snowballing. Of 20 identified records, 16 were screened after duplicate removal, and four national assessment reports met the inclusion criteria: KPSEA (2023) and Uwezo/FLANA reports (2021, 2023 and 2025).Findings indicate that differences in assessment populations, sampling frames and constructs preclude direct statistical pooling. FLANA 2025 reported that 35% of Grade 6 learners had not attained the Grade 3 English reading benchmark, compared with 34% in 2023. Non-proficiency was higher among rural (39%) than urban learners (29%), and public (37%) than private school learners (24%). No aggregate ASAL-specific estimate was available, although targeted pastoralist and refugee studies reported non-proficiency rates of up to 44%.The review recommends sub-county data disaggregation, complementary use of assessment metrics, and targeted foundational literacy interventions, including Teaching at the Right Level, to address persistent inequalities.