Contribution of County Bursary Fund On Access and Equity in Financing Public Secondary School Education in Siaya County, Kenya

Abstract

Globally, there exist bursary schemes that are in place to enhance access and equity in the provision of education to the disadvantaged. In Kenya, there have been bursary schemes that enhances access and equity in the provision of secondary school education. With Siaya County’s 16% of the population having secondary school education, below the neighbouring Kisumu county’s 25%, Vihiga county’s 20% and Kakamega county’s 19%, coupled with inequity in bursary distribution, the County Government of Siaya came up with Siaya County Education Bursary Fund (SCEBF) to improve access and equity in the acquisition of secondary school education. The purpose of the study was to examine the contribution of County Bursary Fund on Access and Equity in Financing Public Secondary School Education in Siaya County. Objectives of the study were; to determine the award of Siaya County Education Bursary Fund to the needy secondary school students in Siaya County, establish extent to which bursary allocation to the recipient is equitably distributed in Siaya County and to determine access rate in secondary school education in the county after the establishment of the Fund. Lorenz Curve and Gini-coefficients were used as tools for determining inequalities in SCEBF allocations. The theoretical framework guiding the study was based on the socialist economics theory of Louis Blanc that aims to redistribute income to create equality of well-being. Descriptive survey and correlational research designs were used in the study. The study population was 204 secondary schools with 204 principals, 11,200 student beneficiaries of the scheme, 30 Ward Administrators and 1 County Executive Commitee Member for Education. A third of the principals’ population which is 68 secondary school principals and 425 students sampled using Yamane’s formular formed the study sample. These were chosen through stratified random sampling to represent all the county wards and different school categories. Saturated sampling was used to sample County Executive Commmittee Member for Education and Ward Administrators. Questionnaires were used to collect data from principals and students while interview schedule was used to collect data from County Executive Committee Member for Education and Ward Administrators. Reliability of the instruments was established by test-retest method and a coefficient index of 0.8 was accepted, content validity of the instruments was ascertained by three experts in the area within the department. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics of percentage, means and frequency counts, while qualitative data was analysed on an ongoing process as themes and sub-themes emerged. The researcher established that Siaya County Education Bursary Fund benefits majority of the needy cases as it is allocated based on the need of applicants, however, there was unequitable distribution of the bursary fund depicted by the Gini Coefficient of 0.39 due to political influence and inadequate funds. The fund aided to improve access to secondary school by 31.8%. The researcher reccomends that; more funds should be allocated to the county education bursaries to ensure that all needy students receive the fund to cater for their education and proper mechanism free from corruption and nepotism should be established for equitable distribution of funds. The researcher suggest that a replica of the study should be carried out in higher economic potential areas and that research on the influence of Siaya County Education Bursary Fund on students’ participation in education should be conducted.