ASSESSMENT OF ALLOCATION OF CONSTITUENCY BURSARY FUNDS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA, A CASE OF BUMULA CONSTITUENCY, BUNGOMA COUNTY, KENYA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v0i0.905Keywords:
access, bursary, constituency bursary funds, retentionAbstract
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:
References
Baumol J W, Blinder SA (1979). Economics, Principles and Policy. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. Dane B (1990). Applied Calculus. Tokyo: Sunders College Publishing House.
Kabira I (2004). President Kibaki is committed to a Socially Just and Equitable Society. Nairobi: Presidential Press Service.
Kerlinger F N (1973).Foundation of Behavioural Research. New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston.
Kimenyi SM (2005). Efficiency and Efficacy of Kenya’s Constituency Development Fund. Theory and Evidence. Connecticut: University of Connecticut.
KIPPRA (2005). Accountability and Performance of Constituency Funds. Nairobi: Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research Analysis.
Lewin K, Caillods F (2001). Financing Secondary Education in Developing Countries: Strategies for Sustainable Growth. Paris: IIEP
Mugenda M O, Research Methods; Quantitative and Mugenda G A (1999). Qualitative Approaches. Nairobi: Acts Press.
Mwangi W (2006). Resolve Row over Bursary. Daily Nation. Nairobi: October 7th 2006.
Nduva V (2004). The Constituency Bursary Fund. The Link Magazine. Nairobi: Vol. 004.pp. 16-17.
Odalo B (2000). “What makes Makueni District Tick?” Daily Nation: Jan 3rd 2000.
Odebero SO (2002). Bursary as a Method of Financing Secondary School Education in Busia District – Kenya. Unpublished M.Ed Thesis Maseno University, Kenya Onyango D, Njue J (2004). Rising Protests over Constituency Fund. The East African Standard. Nairobi: September 19 th 2004.
Oyuke J (2006). IPAR Study Faults Usage of Constituency Fund. East African Standard. Nairobi: April 4 th 2006.
Republic of Kenya (2002). Bungoma District Development Plan, 2002 – 2006. Nairobi: Government Printer.
Selowsky M (1979). Who Benefits From Government Expenditure? A Case Study of Colombia New York: Oxford University Press.
Todaro PM (1981). Economic for a Developing World. London: Longman.
Tuckman WB (1978). Conducting Educational Research. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
