Effectiveness of government bursary fund programme in enhancing girl child access to secondary education in Kajiado District, Kenya

Abstract

This study focused on the secondary school bursary scheme in Kajiado district. It aimed at investigating the effectiveness of the government bursary fund in enhancing girl child access to secondary education in Kajiado district. The study sought to determine the gender trend in the award of bursaries and the total enrolment in the secondary school period 2003-2006.To establish the (actors considered in allocating the bursary funds and their implications to the girl child's participation in secondary education, to find out the head teachers and students perception on the effectiveness of the new bursary scheme, any major constraints in the disbursement procedures and to sect: suggestions on ways of increasing effectiveness of bursary fund. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study was 2490 students, 7 Area Education officers and 15 head teachers, while the sample comprised of 180 Students, 3 Area education officers randomly sampled and 7 purposively sampled head teachers. A total sample size of 190 was used. The study instruments included questionnaire for Head teachers and students, and an interview schedule for Area Education Officers Quantitative data was analyzed using the SPSS while themes were generated for qualitative data. The study findings indicated a higher enrolment fur boys than girls throughout the three year period, 2003-2006. There has been a notable increase in percentage for boys from 62% in 2004 to 65% in 2006 against the girls enrolment that has had a downward trend, from 38% in 2004, to 35% in 2006. Therefore, gender disparity still exists despite bursary fund scheme. The bursary scheme was found to be ineffective, only 11% of the girls had been retained through bursary in comparison to total of 52% girl applicants hence amount was not adequate. None of the beneficiaries had excelled in Kenya National Examination Council to be admitted to public universities. The procedure was found to be long tedious and expensive. Favoritism, corruption and an inefficient system with forms reaching recipients late were among the constraints. Heads had coined tactics to have more funds to school them foe needy cases. Other constraints included unpredictability of amount granted, and instances of political interference. The study therefore recommended that a school selected team comprising of deputy head teacher, class teachers, a member of the board and parents representative be recognized, head teachers avail to them lists of beneficiaries from other bodies like Non Governmental Organizations to avoid duplication of students awards. Government to defuse political interference through increased monitoring effectively achieved through an efficient computerized system. The study recommended that a study Should be carried out to determine the role of the civil society in enhancing the education of girls in Kajiado District. There is need to carry out a study to establish effect of parent's illiteracy levels and how this impacts on participation of' girls in secondary education, hence need for adult literacy classes for them.