INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL LOCATION ON COST EFFICIENCY IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BOMET COUNTY, KENYA

Kenyan public secondary schools are intended to run at a cost that is both cheap and sustainable. Despite this, the cost of education in most public secondary schools in Bomet County is still high in relative terms. This could indicate that public schools are operating inefficiently in terms of costs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of school location on cost efficiency in public secondary schools in Bomet County, Kenya. The target population of the study was two hundred and seventy principals of public secondary schools and all the five Sub-County Directors of Education in Bomet County. Using stratified and simple random sampling approaches, a sample of 175 principals was chosen. The data was collected from the principals using a semi-structured questionnaire, and the data from the Sub-county Directors of Education was collected using an interview schedule. The data was collected from the principals using a semi-structured questionnaire, and the data from the Sub-county Directors of Education was collected using an interview schedule. The Content Validity Index was used to check for validity, and it found that all variables had an S-CVI of greater than 0.9, indicating that they were all valid and could be used in the study. All variables had Cronbach alpha coefficients of greater than 0.7, indicating that the variables were internally reliable enough to be used in the study. The data was analyzed and summarized using descriptive statistics, such as frequencies, means, and standard deviations. To test the hypotheses, the researchers employed simple linear regression analysis in inferential statistics to see how well school location could predict cost efficiency. Statistical operations on data analysis were performed using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) statistics software. The influence of the school location on the cost efficiency in public secondary schools was examined using nine indicators. These indicators included the effects of school location on diverse expenses such as water services provision, electricity services provision, food supplies, administration cost, extracurricular activities, access to workshops and seminars, external support services, transportation costs, and missing on the cost-saving opportunities. The study results indicated that the respondents indicated that the school incurred huge expenses on water bills, and food supplies to a very small extent. The study also concluded on the presence of a statistically significant influence of school location on the cost efficiency of public secondary schools in Bomet County. These results were attributed to higher operational costs associated with their geographical remoteness and sparsely populated schools, which were then not able to benefit from economies of scale in their operations

Meteorologic Influences on Plasmodium falciparum Malaria in the Highland Tea Estates of Kericho, Western Kenya

Recent epidemics of Plasmodium falciparum malaria have been observed in high-altitude areas of East Africa. Increased malaria incidence in these areas of unstable malaria transmission has been attributed to a variety of changes including global warming. To determine whether the reemergence of malaria in western Kenya could be attributed to changes in meteorologic conditions, we tested for trends in a continuous 30-year monthly malaria incidence dataset (1966–1995) obtained from complete hospital registers at a Kenyan tea plantation. Contemporary monthly meteorologic data (1966–1995) that originated from the tea estate meteorologic station and from global climatology records were also tested for trends. We found that total hospital admissions (malaria and nonmalaria) remained unchanged while malaria admissions increased significantly during the period. We also found that all meteorologic variables showed no trends for significance, even when combined into a monthly suitability index for malaria transmission. We conclude that climate changes have not caused the highland malaria resurgence in western Kenya

Appropriateness of clinical severity classification of new WHO childhood pneumonia guidance : a multi-hospital, retrospective, cohort study

Background: Management of pneumonia in many low-income and middle-income countries is based on WHO guidelines that classify children according to clinical signs that define thresholds of risk. We aimed to establish whether some children categorised as eligible for outpatient treatment might have a risk of death warranting their treatment in hospital. Methods: We did a retrospective cohort study of children aged 2–59 months admitted to one of 14 hospitals in Kenya with pneumonia between March 1, 2014, and Feb 29, 2016, before revised WHO pneumonia guidelines were adopted in the country. We modelled associations with inpatient mortality using logistic regression and calculated absolute risks of mortality for presenting clinical features among children who would, as part of revised WHO pneumonia guidelines, be eligible for outpatient treatment (non-severe pneumonia). Findings: We assessed 16 162 children who were admitted to hospital in this period. 832 (5%) of 16 031 children died. Among groups defined according to new WHO guidelines, 321 (3%) of 11 788 patients with non-severe pneumonia died compared with 488 (14%) of 3434 patients with severe pneumonia. Three characteristics were strongly associated with death of children retrospectively classified as having non-severe pneumonia: severe pallor (adjusted risk ratio 5·9, 95% CI 5·1–6·8), mild to moderate pallor (3·4, 3·0–3·8), and weight-for-age Z score (WAZ) less than −3 SD (3·8, 3·4–4·3). Additional factors that were independently associated with death were: WAZ less than −2 to −3 SD, age younger than 12 months, lower chest wall indrawing, respiratory rate of 70 breaths per min or more, female sex, admission to hospital in a malaria endemic region, moderate dehydration, and an axillary temperature of 39°C or more. Interpretation: In settings of high mortality, WAZ less than −3 SD or any degree of pallor among children with non-severe pneumonia was associated with a clinically important risk of death. Our data suggest that admission to hospital should not be denied to children with these signs and we urge clinicians to consider these risk factors in addition to WHO criteria in their decision making

Moderating Influence of Principal Financial Management Skills on the Relationship Between Selected School Characteristics and Cost Efficiency Among Public Secondary Schools in Bomet County, Kenya

Public secondary schools in Kenya are expected to operate at affordable and sustainable costs. Despite this expectation, the cost of education in relative terms in most public secondary schools in Bomet County is still high. This may be an indicator that public schools are cost inefficient in their operations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the moderating influence of financial management skills on the influence of selected school characteristics on cost efficiency of public secondary schools in Bomet County, Kenya. The target population was two hundred and seventy principals of public secondary schools and all the five Sub-County Directors of Education in Bomet County. A sample of one hundred and seventy-five principals was selected using stratified and simple random sampling techniques. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather data from the principals and an interview schedule was used to solicit data from the Sub-county Directors of Education. The Content Validity Index was used to check for validity, and it found that all variables had an S-CVI of greater than 0.9, indicating that they were all valid and could be used in the study. All variables had Cronbach alpha coefficients of greater than 0.7, indicating that the variables were internally reliable enough to be used in the study. The data was analysed and summarized using descriptive statistics, such as frequencies, means, and standard deviations. To test the hypotheses, the researchers employed a moderated multiple linear regression analysis in inferential statistics to see how well financial management skills had a moderating effect on the influence of selected school characteristics on cost efficiency of public secondary schools in Bomet County, Kenya. Statistical operations on data analysis were performed using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) statistics software.  The study concluded that financial management skills did not have moderating influence on the relationship between selected school characteristics and cost efficiency of public secondary schools in Bomet County. This was linked to low financial management abilities of the stakeholders, which were characterized by poor financial mobilization skills of school alumni and school administrators. According to the study, the ministry of education should invest in capacity building for school administrators on financial management in order to improve cost efficiency in public secondary schools in Bomet County. School administrators, in particular, require capacity building in order to enhance skills on school resource mobilization. This could create appropriate resources to keep the schools running optimally in terms of cost. Keywords: Cost Efficiency, Public Secondary Schools, principal financial management skills DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-4-02 Publication date: February 28th 202

An annotated checklist of the vascular flora of South and North Nandi Forests, Kenya

We compiled a checklist of the flora of South and North Nandi forests based on literature, online databases, herbarium collections and floristic field surveys. A combination of general walk-over surveys and plotless landscape sampling for plant collection and sight observation was used. We recorded 628 plant species representing 118 families and 392 genera, which almost double the latest results of the previous most recent survey. We found 61 species of ferns and fern allies and 567 species of seed plants, representing 9.98% of the total plant species in Kenya. Herbs were the majority (50.2%) of life forms followed by shrubs (16.5%). We report unique populations of three species out of 19 species that are widespread in Africa, but restricted to Nandi and Kakamega Forests in Kenya. Four of the recorded species are threatened globally and 16 exotic plant species were found. The recent description of one new species and two new records for Kenya from these forests, together with the comprehensive checklist is of crucial importance to the conservation of these unique ecosystems. Our results are essential to forest managers, community forest associations, conservationists, students and research scientists in Kenya and globally for implementing critical decisions for the conservation of this vital biodiversity resource

Conservation priorities and distribution patterns of vascular plant species along environmental gradients in Aberdare ranges forest

Distribution patterns of biodiversity and the factors influencing them are important in conservation and management strategies of natural resources. With impending threats from increased human population and global climatic changes, there is an urgent need for a comprehensive understanding of these patterns, more so in species-rich tropical montane ecosystems where little is known about plant diversity and distribution. Vascular species richness along elevation and climatic gradients of Aberdare ranges forest were explored. A total of 1337 species in 137 families, 606 genera, 82 subspecies and 80 varieties were recorded. Correlations, simple linear regression and Partial least square regression analysis were used to assess richness and diversity patterns of total plants, herbs, shrubs, climbers, arboreal and endemic species from 2000–4000 m above sea level. Total plant species richness showed a monotonic declining relationship with elevation with richness maxima at 2000–2100 m a.s.l., while endemic species richness had a positive unimodal increase along elevation with peaks at 3600–3700 m a.s.l. Herbs, shrubs, climbers and arboreal had significant negative relationships with altitude, excluding endemism which showed positive relations. In contrast, both air and soil temperatures had positive relationships with taxa richness groups and negative relations with endemic species. Elevation was found to have higher relative influence on plant richness and distribution in Aberdare ranges forest. For effective conservation and management of biodiversity in Aberdare, localized dynamic conservation interventions are recommended in contrast to broad and static strategies. Establishment of conservation zones and migration corridors are necessary to safeguard biodiversity in line with envisaged global climatic vicissitudes

An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Aberdare Ranges Forest, a part of Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot

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