Adequacy Of Subsidized Day Secondary Education Funds In Nyandarua County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

The rationale of this research study was to evaluate the success of financing of subsidized day secondary school education in Nyandarua County. The research aimed at realizing the following objectives: to assess the adequacy of funds for infrastructure, teaching/learning resources, tuition and operations; to establish the timeliness of disbursement of FSE funds .The study was based on Dixon`s(1991),Systems Theory. In this study the, descriptive survey design was employed to collect information from all the 19 headteachers and 228 teachers from the 19 public secondary schools in Nyandarua North Sub county. Stratified random sampling was used in selecting 14 out of 19 secondary schools. Each stratum represented 1 boys‟ only school, 3 girls‟ only school and 10 mixed secondary schools. Purposive sampling was employed in order to select all the 14 headteachers and the area Sub county Education Officer. Two teachers from each of the participating schools were randomly selected to take part, giving rise to a total of 43 participants. Questionnaires for headteachers and teachers and an interview schedule for the Sub county Education Officer were developed for data collection. Prior to data collection, a pilot study was carried out in two schools in Nyandarua North District to test the reliability and validity of the instruments. To test reliability, testretest technique was employed and reliability was established at 0.6853. Content validity was enhanced through expert decision. Data was both quantitative and qualitative. Descriptive statistics were employed in order to analyze the quantitative data collected in the study. The findings were presented as means, frequency counts, and percentages. On the other hand, qualitative analysis considered the inferences that were made from the opinions of the participants. Qualitative data was analyzed qualitatively using content analysis based on analysis of meanings and implications emanating from respondents‟ information. The analysis was presented thematically in narrative form and, where applicable, in form of quantative tables. Bar graphs, frequency tables and pie charts were used in presenting the results of data analysis. The study found out that FSE funds allocated by the government to schools in Nyandarua North Sub County were not adequate to cater for all the educational needs. It was established that funds were not disbursed in schools on time, leading to inconveniences like late supply of learning/teaching materials and insufficient provision of resources. The study also revealed that the FSE programme had a positive improvement on access, retention and completion rates. The study suggested that: it is important for the government to give additional funds to the education sector so as to provide the basic infrastructures such as libraries, workshops, dormitories, administration blocks, classrooms and other necessary teaching/learning materials; the Government also needs to attempt to make sure that the FSE resources are in school accounts before the commencement of the school term in order to enable accurate procurement procedures and planning, among other recommendations.