Pre-School Education
In 2012, the population of this age group is estimated is estimated to be 226,880 and 257,834 in 2015. In order to adequately serve the interest of this age cohort, there is need to expandand make accessible the early childhood development centres especially in the rural areas. There are 904 ECD centres in the county with 1184 teachers. This indicates that each centre is having 251 children; this number is too big for one centre to give quality attention.
Primary Education
The population of this age group is 312,844 representing about 25.5 percent of the total population of the county. The increasing population of this age group calls for increased investment in basic education facilities and to develop more vocational training facilities to absorb dropouts. There are 467 primary schools in the county with 6,278 teachers. The teacher student ratio is 1:50 and enrollment in 2012 is 311, 700 with a transition rate of 90%.
Literacy
The literacy levels among adults in the county are high. The overall illiteracy rate the county stands at 10.45%.Attempts have been made to spread adult education in the county but these efforts have been thwarted by men who feel shy that they will be considered illiterate. Women in the county have of course shown some remarkable acceptance of adult classes mainly due to group advice and encouragement amongst themselves. The government is also making efforts of employing adult teachers on permanent basis. According to 2009 Population and Housing census, 27,151 males and 19,631 females had gone through basic education while 465,107 males and 502,953 females were in school. A total of 44,434 male and 74,063 had never attended school. The literacy is relatively high in the county, estimated at 89.5%.
Secondary Education
The population for the secondary age going is 131,821 with 66,328 males and 65,493 females representing 10.7 per cent of the total population of the county. The increasing population of this age group implies that the county will need to create openings in training institutions as well as employment opportunities to absorb them. There are 334 secondary schools both private and public in the county and 3,940 teachers and a teacher student ratio of 1:48. The number of enrolled students is 189,120 with a dropout rate of 6%. This group is currently the potential labour force and the challenges are to ensure that jobs are available to absorb those who will not pursue further education. The challenge is to ensure they acquire the necessary skills for the competitive job market.
Tertiary Education
The youthful population represents 31.4% of the total county population. Sixty one per cent (61%) of the unemployed persons in the county are within this age group. This calls for the county to implement projects and programmes that will address unemployment including capacity building on entrepreneurship so that they can be self employed and effectively contribute to the socio-economic development of the county. The county also needs to scale up campaigns against drug abuse and HIV/AIDS infections.