ASSESSMENT OF ALLOCATION OF CONSTITUENCY BURSARY FUNDS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA, A CASE OF BUMULA CONSTITUENCY, BUNGOMA COUNTY, KENYA

Secondary school education is very critical in any education system because of the crucial role it plays in catalyzing national development. Consequently, maintaining a high student enrolment at this level should be a priority for all countries. The Constituency Bursary Fund (CBF) was established by the government of Kenya through an act of parliament in 2003 to ensure that the needy students have access to secondary education. This fund provides for the involvement of community members in identifying the bursary recipients. With the communal involvement in decision-making, it was anticipated that there would be fairness and efficiency in the bursary allocation process. Contrary to the high expectations however, cases of complaints about the implementation of the constituency bursary fund are many. The purpose of the study was to determine adherence to the established criteria in allocating bursaries influences retention in secondary school. This study was guided by the following objectives namely: To examine the criteria used by the constituency bursary fund committee to allocate bursaries to the recipients in the constituency; To determine the level of inequality in the allocation of bursaries to recipients in the constituency.; To establish how constituency bursary fund influenced students’ retention in secondary school, To find out the problems encountered by the bursary allocation committee when allocating bursaries to the recipients. This study adopted descriptive survey design using mixed approach methodology. This study was guided by the theory of socialist economics of education. The target population for this study comprised of the 1 DEO, 30 school principals, 120 class teachers, 14 CBF committee members and 1500 form three students. The study adopted both probability and non-probability samplings design to determine sample size. Quantitative data was collected through questionnaire and qualitative data through interview and document analysis. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. (Pearson Correlation Coefficient) Qualitative data was thematically classified and arranged before they were reported in narrations and quotations. Constituency Bursary Committee officials indicated that the total amount of bursary is distributed equally between the 19 wards in the constituency. There is a significant relationship between Adequacy of CBF and Retention in Secondary Schools. Among the challenges faced in the provision of CDF bursaries is the high geographical mobility of urban dwellers which lead to lack of detailed information about them.   Article visualizations

FACTORS INFLUENCING EDUCATIONAL WASTAGE AMONG GIRLS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA: A CASE OF KISII CENTRAL DISTRICT

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors influencing wastage among girls in secondary schools in Kisii Central district. Generally it looked into the factors that force girls to drop out of school or repeat grades. The objectives that were used to guide this study were to; establish the influence of school related factors on the wastage rate among girls at secondary level in Kisii central district, establish the influence of economic factors on wastage among girls in secondary schools in Kisii Central district, investigate the influence of cultural factors on wastage among girls in secondary schools in Kisii central district , and finally establish the influence of social factors on wastage rate among girls in secondary level in Kisii central district. The study was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. Descriptive survey research design was used in conducting the study. This study was based on the production function theory as expressed by Psacharapoulos and Wood hall (1985). Stratified random sampling was used to select 22 secondary schools which were either public mixed or public girl’s schools. This formed 35% of the total 63 public mixed and public girls’ schools in the study area. The respondents were all head teachers and one form three class master in each selected school. Form three students of the selected schools also participated. All the above respondents were purposively sampled into the study. A total of 399 respondents participated. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. Piloting of the study was conducted in two schools in the neighbouring Gucha district. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The inferential statistics used was chi-squire. From the findings it was found out that economic factors like poverty at household level, cultural factors such as pregnancy and marriages were responsible for dropout among girls. Also, school related factors like school examination regulations and social factors such as provision of sanitary towels were found to affect girls’ education negatively. It is therefore hoped that the findings and recommendations of this study will be useful to educational planners and other educational stakeholders in solving the problem of wastage among girls in secondary schools in Kenya

FACTORS INFLUENCING EDUCATIONAL WASTAGE AMONG GIRLS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA: A CASE OF KISII CENTRAL DISTRICT

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors influencing wastage among girls in secondary schools in Kisii Central district. Generally it looked into the factors that force girls to drop out of school or repeat grades. The objectives that were used to guide this study were to; establish the influence of school related factors on the wastage rate among girls at secondary level in Kisii central district, establish the influence of economic factors on wastage among girls in secondary schools in Kisii Central district, investigate the influence of cultural factors on wastage among girls in secondary schools in Kisii central district , and finally establish the influence of social factors on wastage rate among girls in secondary level in Kisii central district. The study was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. Descriptive survey research design was used in conducting the study. This study was based on the production function theory as expressed by Psacharapoulos and Wood hall (1985). Stratified random sampling was used to select 22 secondary schools which were either public mixed or public girl’s schools. This formed 35% of the total 63 public mixed and public girls’ schools in the study area. The respondents were all head teachers and one form three class master in each selected school. Form three students of the selected schools also participated. All the above respondents were purposively sampled into the study. A total of 399 respondents participated. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. Piloting of the study was conducted in two schools in the neighbouring Gucha district. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The inferential statistics used was chi-squire. From the findings it was found out that economic factors like poverty at household level, cultural factors such as pregnancy and marriages were responsible for dropout among girls. Also, school related factors like school examination regulations and social factors such as provision of sanitary towels were found to affect girls’ education negatively. It is therefore hoped that the findings and recommendations of this study will be useful to educational planners and other educational stakeholders in solving the problem of wastage among girls in secondary schools in Kenya