Determinants of Enrolment in Public Vocational Training Centres in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya
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Date
2020
Authors
Kiplangat, Terwes M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
The government of Kenya has invested heavily in Technical Vocational Education
and Training (TVET) through establishing new Vocational Training centres (VTCs)
as well as upgrading the existing ones to accommodate more youths. However, there
are increasing concerns of low enrolment in these VTCs in Elgeyo-Marakwet
County. This study was to establish determinants of enrolment in VTCs in ElgeyoMarakwet County. The enrolment levels in these centres over the past five years
(2013-2017) have been lower than the required carrying capacity. The study
objective aimed to; to establish: if costs contribute to enrolment in vocational
training centres since delocalization; to determine levels of awareness by youths on
existing sources of funding for enrolling in vocational training centres and how
government policies influence enrolment in Elgeyo-Marakwet County. The study
was guided by the theory of demand under the price theory developed by Hirshleifer
(1980). Descriptive research design was adopted. The target population of the study
comprised of 11 principals, 60 tutors, 1437 VTCs students and 20 primary school
leavers. The sample size had 394 respondents; 11 principals, 52 tutors and 312
VTCs students. Regular students and tutors were selected using stratified sampling
and proportionate simple random sampling techniques. Principals of VTCs were
selected using purposive sampling technique. Snowballing method was used to
locate 20 primary school leavers. The study used questionnaires and interview
schedules as instruments for data collection. Lecturers from School of Education
helped in determining content validity of the instruments. The research instruments
were piloted and its reliability determined through test re-tests technique at an Rvalue of 0.6 and above. Reliability value obtained was above 0.6. Data was collected
and analysed using qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative data was
analysed using thematic content analysis. Quantitative data was analysed using
descriptive statistics; frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation and
inferential statistics ; analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test hypotheses for
the study at 0.05 significant level to confirm if there was significant difference
between tutors and regular students views on determinants of enrolment. Research
findings were presented in tables, figures and narrations. The study found out that
the cost of vocational education was high (Ksh; 10,000/=) and above for majority of
peasant farmers to finance their students in schools. The cost of vocational education
therefore was found to contribute to enrolment of students. Secondly, the study
found out that the level of awareness of existing sources of funding by students and
school leavers contributed to low enrolment rate in public VTCs. Thirdly, the study
found out that some government policies favoured enrolment (funding, resource
distribution, bursary and admission) in VTCs. Nevertheless, the school leavers and
students were found to have lower level of awareness on government policies on
financing. The study concluded that cost of vocational education, awareness of
existing sources of funding and government policy affected enrolment of students in
public vocational training centres in Elgeyo-Marakwet County. The study
recommends that government should introduce funding for VTC learners by
working with county governments. In addition, the county government should create
awareness on existence of VTCs and requirements for one to join them.
Description
A Research Project Submitted to the Department of
Educational Management, Policy and Curriculum Studies
in the School of Education in Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirements for the Award of Degree of Masters in
Educational Planning in the School of Education of
Kenyatta University
Keywords
Public Vocational Training Centres, Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya, TVET, Technical Vocational Education and Training, Vocational training centres