The Great Places To School (GPTS) is a research based rating exercise to identify, rates and recognize schools whose innovative learning environment and overall school culture contribute to the development of a total child. GPTS is equivalent to an annual report card which provides accurate, objective, understandable information about the performance of individual schools that is not easily available anywhere else.
The aim of the awards is to improve the quality of learning in schools by subjecting them to a regular confirmation of competence as “great places to school.” This is done through a rigorous process that identifies and rates schools whose overall culture contributes to the development of a holistic student. Parents can utilize this scientific research based report card when they are choosing a school for their children as they make comparisons much easier.
Kenyan school graduates lack appropriate skills to meet the demands of the 21st century job market, and nearly 60% of youth remain unemployed after graduation. The Global Risks Report, 9th Edition (2014) by World Economic Forum identifies high youth unemployment as one of the ten highest risks of greatest concern in 2014, having consequences on global security, economic growth and corruption indexes.

Further, Kenya’s past experience with ranking was solely examination based and was out of touch with the current educational and social realities and the past system of using mean scores alone to rate learners or institutions did not give conclusive evidence of the effects of other variables such as physical resources, teacher-pupil ratio teacher quality, teaching learning materials and school management which impact on performance. The initiative is organized by the Global Peace Foundation Kenya, the Standard Group PLC, the Kenya Private Schools Association and Opinion Track Ltd and provides an opportunity to transform the education system by appreciating that every school is unique and plays a key role in nurturing a holistic student.