Governors have claimed credit for increasing the number of girls joining the school, which is now higher than that of boys.
The governors noted that in 2021 enrolment in pre-primary 1 and 2 for boys was 1,422,247 while that of girls was 1,423,018.
In total, this increased enrollment marginally to 2,845,300, they said in a report, The Impact of Devolution on Women and Girls in Kenya, released in Nairobi on Friday.
The report also shows there are several times more female Early Childhood Education (ECDE) female teachers in Kenya than males.
“There are 46, 671 pre-primary schools, with the number of trained teachers being 68,599 (Male 11,225, Female 57,374),” the report notes.
It shows that in 2013 there were 2,465,605 learners (male 1,230,593, female 1,235,012), 83,814 teachers (male 13,854, female 69,960), and 40,145 pre-primary school institutions.
CoG chief executive Mary Mwiti said devolution has changed narratives surrounding historical marginalisation by facilitating institutionalisation of governance, expansion of civil and political space and development in all parts of the country.
“Devolution has opened up opportunities for women and other previously marginalized groups to participate in governance,” she said.
The report documents the impact of devolution on women and girls in education, health, agriculture, water and sanitation, and urban planning across the 14 joint devolution counties.
“The enrollment rates of girls in ECDE have sharply increased owing to robust investment in infrastructure and human resources by all counties,” Mwiti said.
Dr Mohamed Sheikh, Director General of the National Council for Population and Development, called for more programs toward reducing child and maternal mortality.
“We can only deliver maternal targets if we move more at the same or higher pace,” he said.
Also launched at the meeting are the Covid-19 Gender Assessment Kenya report and the Gender Sector Statistics Plan report, produced by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and the UN Women.
Last week, Kenya was ranked 57th among 146 countries in the gender gap rankings this year, by the World Economic Forum.
The WEF report showed women's participation in the economic arena in Kenya greatly increased this year, ranking position six globally from 84 in 2021.
Kenya ranked 95 among 156 countries in last year's overall rankings.
Rwanda was ranked the most gender-equal country in Africa followed by Namibia, South Africa and Burundi.
Kenya came in ninth while Democratic Republic of Congo was the worst ranked after Mali and Chad
