Impact of public subsidy on gender equity in secondary school education in Garissa district, Garissa county, Kenya

Abstract

TheGovernment of Kenya has always put great emphasis in expanding secondary school education since independence to enhance maximum transition from primary to secondary level. However, despitethis government's initiative, gender disparities, still persist. Available statistics indicate that secondaryschool enrolment in several provinces and districts across the country was in favour of boys by 2007. The government decided to introduce subsidy to secondary education to enhance transition rates from primary to secondary level. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the public subsidy to secondary education on gender equity in Garissa District. The objectivesof the study were to; analyze enrolment trends by gender in Garissa District from 2008- 2011 and identify factors causing gender disparities in the district. The study tried to provide .feedback on the impact of the government subsidy towards the achievement of gender equity on secondary education in Garissa District. The study was guided by the Darwin's Classical Liberal Theory on Equal Opportunity which advocates for equal treatment of all of people regardless of their gender or social status. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and targeted all the eight public secondary schools in Garissa District. The target population was 113 respondents comprisingof one District Education Officer (DEO), eight principals and 104 class teachers of the eightpublic secondary schools in the district. The sample size was 43 respondents comprising of oneDEO, 8 principals and 34 class teachers. The study employed Saturated Sampling Technique onthe DEO and the principals while class teachers were selected using Simple Random Sampling. The study used interview schedule guide and facts sheet to collect data from the DEO and questionnaires to collect data from principals and class teachers. The research instruments were pilotedin one of the schools from the neighboring district. To enhance validity, the questionnaires were presented to the two Supervisors from Kenyatta University for guidance. To test for reliability, test-retest technique was applied. The questionnaires for principals and for class teachers were reliable as they yielded correlation coefficient of 0.76. The collected data was subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analysis. The qualitative data was analyzed in narrative form while the quantitative data was analyzed by use of percentages and frequencies which were then presented in tables. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Packages for SocialScience (SPSS) version 18. The study established that there existed gender disparities in the accessto secondary school education despite various education subsidies that were offered by the government. These were attributed to the involvement of girls in domestic chores, restricted mobility for girls, low valuation of female labour in the market, few women teacher role models, .early marriages among girls and the traditional socialization. Various gender enhancing strategies suggestedincluded; identifying and working on gender parity in enrollment, educational outcomes and retention rates, addressing the impact of educational programs and policies on boys and girls and equitable access and quality from gender perspective. This study recommends the following: various stakeholders such as the government, religious bodies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) should mobilize and sensitize parents and communities on the importance of educating both boys and girls and ensuring equal education opportunities for both