Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to investigate the factors influencing the effectiveness of constituency bursary fund in enhancing access and retention of needy students in public boarding secondary schools in Eldoret East Constituency Uasin Gishu County. The government of Kenya introduced the constituency bursary fund in 2003 so as to enhance student’s access and retention in public secondary schools by supporting the needy and bright students. However, contrary to this, many needy students continue to drop out of school due to the rising cost of secondary education despite the existence of the constituency bursary fund. The objectives of the study were to assess the effects of social economic background in determining the enrolments of needy students, examine the extent to which public awareness on CBF has affected access and retention of needy students, determine the logistical factors influencing the CBF, and to determine the extent to which adequacy of CBF has affected access and retention of needy students. The study was anchored on Rawls theory of justice and fairness. The study used descriptive survey research design. The target population was all the 28 public boarding secondary schools in Eldoret East Constituency, while the sample size constituted 200 students, 10 head
teachers and three CBF committee members. Data collection was done using
questionnaire and interview schedules while data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. The test–retest technique of assessing reliability of research instruments was used. The content validity of the research instruments was measured, the study found that majority of the students come from poor economic background. That CBF was a critical source of funds for financing Secondary education as majority of parents did not have
stable income. Lack of school fees was a major hindrance to access and retention of needy students in public boarding secondary schools. The level of awareness on CBF application was very low in secondary schools in Eldoret East therefore deserving students did not apply for the funds. The CBF allocated to students was not enough to cater for all these educational needs. The study concludes that the most significant way of improving CBF disbursement to needy students were increasing the CBF allocation to
ensure access and retention of needy students, create awareness on CBF and review guidelines on allocation of CBF. The study recommends that the Government should increase the amount of CBF allocated to needy students, review the criteria on allocation of CBF to ensure that all needy students benefits and to increase awareness on the importance of CBF on access and retention of needy students.
