The influence of unit cost on academic performance of learners in day and boarding secondary schools in Nandi County, Kenya

Abstract

Given the rising cost of secondary education, leading to allocation of large amount of resources to secondary education, students’ academic performance is expected to be better. This study analyzed the influence of Unit Cost on learners’ academic performance in Day and Boarding secondary school in Nandi County, Kenya. The study was guided by Cost Function derived from the Education Production Function theory; it employed a survey as a research strategy. The study targeted all the principals in 186 public secondary schools in the Nandi County. It employed stratified random sampling and then systematic random sampling. Questionnaire and document analysis were for data collection. A pilot study was used to determine the reliability of the instruments. For validity of the research tool, experienced team of supervisors carefully and critically examined the instruments. Data was analyzed using means, percentages and linear regression analysis. It was found out that, average unit cost Ksh. 22,263 and Ksh. 54,828 for Day and Boarding secondary schools respectively. Furthermore, the findings revealed that, academic performance for the period (2012- 2015), recorded an average mean of 7.1184 and 4.7391 for Boarding and Day secondary schools respectively. From the study, there was a positive significant (p=0.000) relationship between academic performance and unit cost in Boarding schools t(28) = 4.192, p<0.05. Similarly, there was a positive significant (p=0.014) relationship between academic performance and unit cost in Day schools, t(91) = 2.503, p<0.05. The recommendations are; there is need to priorities expenditure for acquisition of teaching and learning resources and thus enhance learner achievements. The Ministry of Education to explore cost effective measures to reduce unit cost of secondary education so as to improve access and performance. The findings generate ideas for better and more resourceful cost management in secondary schools, which is useful for policy makers and managers in education sector.