Assessment of Alternatives of Financing Youth Polytechnic’s Activities in Imenti South District, Meru County

Abstract

The role of youth polytechnic in the provision of middle level education cannot be overemphasized. Most learners who cannot proceed to high schools and other tertiary institutions resort to youth polytechnics to gain skills which they use mainly in the informal sector. While the potential for quick expansion of youth polytechnics programs are there, there are a number of factors that are hampering their growth. The ministry of education does not fund youth polytechnics but only gives them grants to pay instructors’ salaries. There is a challenge in funding education sector since resources are scarce. The government has been allocating a lot of funds to other levels of education and very little is allocated to the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET). This study sought to assess alternatives of financing youth polytechnics activities and how income so generated is used to offer quality training in Imenti South District- Meru County. The researcher adopted descriptive survey design. The study targeted the two polytechnics in Imenti South District. Purposive sampling was used and a sample of 27 respondents was identified. Piloting was done in the polytechnic not involved in the study. Spearman’s rank order correlation was used to compute reliability. Data was collected using questionnaires, observation guide and interview schedule. Descriptive statistics were presented in form of frequencies and percentages. Qualitative data was presented using theoretical descriptions. The study revealed that there are varied ventures in income generation activities that youth polytechnics are involved in. It was also found out that much of the income from IGAs is not accounted for, or there are no records kept both by the management and the staff. The polytechnics that are well endowed were producing more income than those which were less endowed. The income generated is used to improve the quality of education. However there are few production units in the polytechnics. The study recommended that Youth polytechnics should build sustainability of income generating activities such as running them as business enterprise. Vibrant production units should also be set up. This is key in increasing the income generated by the youth polytechnics.