My present research interest and focus is in three areas: 1) Opportunity to Learn (OTL) and vulnerabilities associated with structural inequalities in sub-Saharan Africa with greater focus on East Africa, notably Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, 2) Higher Education finance in relation to market and non-market benefits; and 3) TVET policies and practices and employability in sub-Saharan Africa. My work is primarily in sub-Saharan Africa although I have collaborated on research that look at rates of return and non-market effects on development of higher education in the UK and the US. All of my research build on the connection between the theory of human capital and implementation of policies, and I have argued that however compelling the theory of human capital is, it remains tacit if actual implementation of policies don't work. Through research I have contributed about 100 papers to the field of education and International development, presented this research at about 100 conferences nationally and internationally, and engaged policy makers, particularly in Kenya; I have supervised about a dozen doctoral (research) students on a range of topics interrogating education and development in several contexts. Examples of my recent research include looking at why poor slum children are utilising the so called ‘private schools for the poor’ and I have discovered that it is due to excess demand and not differentiated demand. Through collaboration with colleagues at African Population and Health Research Center and Stanford University we have researched the effect of classroom resources on learning gains in low and high achieving schools. This has led to a featured publication in Comparative Education review titled ‘The Role of Classroom Resources and National Education Context in Student Learning Gains: Comparing Botswana, Kenya, and South Africa’. My research in higher education covers finance in relation to market and non-market benefits. Example include the work on the Impact of Tertiary Education on Development which can be found here. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/327901/Tertiary-education-2014-Oketch2.pdf