Bursary Funds and Access to Education in Selected Secondary Schools in Nyamaiya Division, Nyamira District, Kenya

ABSTRACT Secondary school education is very critical in any education system because of the crucial role it plays in catalyzing national development The purpose of the study was to examine bursary funds allocation and access to education in secondary schools in Nyamaiya division, Nyamira District, Kenya but more specifically it sought to (i) the level of bursary allocation to secondary school education; (ii) examine the level of access to secondary school education (iii) determine the relationship between access to education and bursary allocation in Nyamaiya Division Nyamira District, Kenya. The study population constituted of high school students~ Purposive sampling technique was used to select the population sample. Questionnaires were used to collect data, which was then coded and analyzed both descriptively and statisucally. From the findings, it was established that; (i) the students are totally not aware of the existence of bursary funds in the district and are equally not given information on how the bursary funds are allocated (ii) that there were three major factors affecting access to secondary school education in the division, (i) Home and Community Based Factors. Based on these findings, the following recommendations were made; (i) the school administrators in the district should strive to allocate bursaries more equitably among the recipients (ii) targeting and identification of needy students should start at the primary school level (iii) selection criteria should not only emphasize on academic performance.