Government Policies on Admission into Science and Technology Bachelor Degree Programmes and Impact on Students’ Participation in Public Universities, Kenya

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dc.contributor.advisorDaniel N. Sifunaen_US
dc.contributor.advisorMaurice I. Makatianien_US
dc.contributor.authorWanyama, Bernard Wasilwa
dc.date.accessioned2021-09-21T08:04:26Z
dc.date.available2021-09-21T08:04:26Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.descriptionA Research Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education (Comparative Education) in the School of Education of Kenyatta University, June, 2021en_US
dc.description.abstractDespite the government commitment to the implementation of admission policies like targeting enrolment of 50% of all students in science and technology related courses, introduction of maximum Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC), disbursement of loans, bursaries and scholarships through HELB, the use of dual track admission policy in developing and placement of students into these programmes and significantly expanding them, only 29% of students were studying a course in Science and Technology by the year 2016. Such scenario implies that the country is seriously lagging behind in the realization of Kenya Education Sector Support Programme (KESSP I) participation target of 50%. The purpose of this study was to establish the gaps that existed in the stated government policies on admission and the actual practice during implementation, the impact of the actual practice during implementation and the interventions that could be employed to increase student participation. The study explored the trend of students‟ participation in Science and Technology Programmes in line with government admission policies, analyzed the relationship between funding of University students and participation in these programmes, analyzed the effects of infrastructure, teaching and learning resources and established institutional based interventions that could increase students‟ participation in Science and Technology Programmes. Eccle‟s Subject-Task Value Theory and Rendon Validation Theory were used to guide the research. The study employed descriptive survey design to target 31 public Universities, 3179 students in Veterinary and Manufacturing Engineering Programmes, 237 lecturers, 107 Heads of Departments (HoDs) and 31 Academic Registrars. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select three Public Universities, 12 HoDs, 24 lecturers, and three Academic Registrars while simple random sampling technique was employed to select 355 students who participated in the study. Documentary analysis was done on University admission records and fees structures. Questionnaires were administered to students, interview schedules were administered to lecturers, HoDs and the Academic Registrars while structured observations schedules were utilized by the researcher to collect data. Validity of research instruments was ascertained by a panel of 10 discussants and a pilot study while reliability was established through the test-retest method. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically and reported in form of tables, quotations and narrations while quantitative data was analyzed by use of frequencies, percentages, means, pie charts and bar graphs. It was established that enrolment stood at 41%, graduation at 23% and Universities had prioritized 55.2% of their programmes in the same area. Differential Unit Cost (DUC) formula has a net effect of decreasing capitation while the HELB loan awarded is equivalent to 53% and 15% of science and technology cost through Government Sponsored Programme (GSP) and Self Sponsored Programme (SSP) per year respectively. Moreover, participants came from middle or upper socio economic backgrounds. Inadequacy of physical facilities stood at 74% as 69% of the academic staff had their highest qualifications of Masters. Only 25.2% were in the rank of Senior Lecturer and above. The lecturer-student ratio was 1:18. Inter-governmental co-operations, linkages and agreements, University-secondary schools linkages, IGAs and relying on philanthropic gestures were interventions employed. The study concludes that Universities should balance enrolment in science and technology and non-sciences and programmes have to be clearly aligned to the developmental needs of the country. Additionally, University funding ought to be backed by coherent policies which prioritize quality and quantityen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/22559
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.subjectGovernment Policiesen_US
dc.subjectAdmissionen_US
dc.subjectScience and Technologyen_US
dc.subjectBachelor Degree Programmesen_US
dc.subjectStudents’ Participationen_US
dc.subjectPublic Universitiesen_US
dc.subjectKenyaen_US
dc.titleGovernment Policies on Admission into Science and Technology Bachelor Degree Programmes and Impact on Students’ Participation in Public Universities, Kenyaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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