Effectiveness of bursary funds in financing education for orphans: a case of secondary schools in Eldoret West sub-County in Kenya

Abstract

The Kenya Government introduced the Constituency Bursary Fund (CBF) in 2003 with the aim of cushioning the country‟s poor and vulnerable groups against the high and increasing cost of secondary education, thereby reducing inequalities. The fund targets orphans as well as those from poor households and urban slums. From 2003/2004, this fund was channeled through the constituencies and coordinated by the constituency bursary committees. The purpose of this study was to establish the effectiveness of Secondary Education Bursary Fund (SEBF) in financing education for orphans in Kenya with respect to equity, access, participation and retention of needy orphans in secondary schools. The specific objectives for the study were to:- establish the effectiveness of the CBC in the targeting process, determine the effectiveness of CBC in the implementation of the MOE stipulated guidelines in the process of disbursing funds and find out the extent to which CBC is able to adequately and continuously support the needy orphan beneficiaries for a full secondary school cycle. The theoretical framework for this study was derived from the systems theory of organizations developed by Ludwig Von Bertalanffy. The study was carried out in Eldoret West Sub-County in Uasin Gishu County in Kenya. The study population was all the 43 secondary schools in Eldoret West Sub-County and the sample size consisted of 19 principals of schools, 8 members of CBC and 248 orphans enrolled in various schools. The study employed simple random sampling, stratified sampling and purposive sampling in selecting the respondents. Questionnaires were used to collect primary data while document analysis was used to obtain secondary data. Test-retest method was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaires and a correlation of 0.73 was obtained. To ensure content validity, the comments and criticisms of expert lecturers were sought and incorporated in the final draft of the questionnaires. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, from which statistical frequencies and percentages were computed to facilitate comparisons and conclusions. The study revealed that CBC was ineffective in the targeting process of needy orphans, funding and adhering to the MOE stipulated guidelines in the disbursement of funds. Among other critical issues, the study revealed that CBF had not raised the access and retention of the needy orphans to a great extent. In view of the findings the study recommended that the government and the CBC need to sensitize and involve the relevant stakeholders in the targeting process, increase funding to the bursary scheme and strictly monitor the implementation of the MOE stipulated guidelines.