One way the system sought to reduce teenage fertility was to directly improve girls’ knowledge about family planning; another was to give them alternative opportunities via schooling. The majority of programs are of the first kind: they are aimed at enhancing young people's ability to avoid early childbearing and directly influence the process of decision making by adolescent girls at the time of choice. The 8-4-4 system allowed for an additional year in primary school to aide in enhancing their decision-making skills needed to make important lifestyle choices. The 8-4-4 system made primary school available and free in order to keep up with the demand and also give quality education that essentially was to help the economy. Study shows that higher levels of education decrease by at least 10 percentage points the probability of giving birth when still a teenager. Knowing that the probability of having one's first child before age 20 when having at least completed primary education is about 65%, this entails a reduction of about 15% of teenage fertility rates (for those having at least completed the KCPE). One additional year of school curbs the probability of becoming a mother each year by respectively 7.3 and 5.6% for women with at least a primary and at least a secondary degree.
