Kitui primary school pupils rank 28th out of the 47 counties in literacy and numeracy in a Uwezo Fund assessment.
A 2014 survey indicates county learning levels at 26 per cent, below the national average of 32 per cent.
The findings also show only one out of four pupils in standard three in Kitui were able to do class two work.
The findings are contained in a research report released yesterday at the Kitui Kefri centre by the Uwezo Eastern and North Eastern coordinator Mohammed Hosman Ibrahim.
The report indicates Kyuso area performed the worst in literacy and numeracy.
Ibrahim said the Uwezo Kenya programme has been researching literacy in schools nationwide and has identified problems that result in poor performance.
The findings are shared with education stakeholders, including the government, Education authorities, donors and others to ensure the gaps identified in the research are plugged, Ibrahim said.
He added that all parties must be diligent to improve standards.
Uwezo Kenya, Mt Kenya south region, coordinator Sospeter Gitonga expressed concern that research showed many standard eight pupils waiting to sit the KCPE exams were unable to do standard three work.
“Uwezo Kenya’s objective is to ensure the quality of education is improved. We have to deal with the sorry state in which standard eight learners are unable to tackle lower primary work,” he said.
Gitonga said the hostility that greeted the first Uwezo Kenya literacy and numeracy report in 2010 has ebbed. He said that henceforth reports, however damning, have been accepted and appreciated by education stakeholders.
At the launch of the report, Gitonga displayed a map showing how counties in Kenya fared in the research.
