Influence of Financing Initiatives on Students’ Participation in University Education a Case of University of the Gambia

Abstract

The main purpose of the study was to unearth the influence of financing initiatives on students’ participation in university education: a case of University of The Gambia. The specific objectives included: to examine the influence of university units’ adherence to government funding policy on university education on students’ participation, to establish the influence of parental financial contribution on students’ participation; to assess the influence of financial support by the non-governmental organization and to determine the influence of work-study program on students’ participation in the University of the Gambia. The research was based on the theory of classical liberalism. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population included 420 Students drawn from first and fourth-year levels of study. Key informants of the study were DVC Academic, Director Finance, Director Students Affairs and selected Deans of Faculties. The study used mixed method approach and employed the use of questionnaires and interviews in data collection. Quantitative data collected from questionnaires were edited, coded and analyzed using SPSS version 23.0. Data analysis was done through descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and inferential (Pearson Correlation) statistics. The results show that government funding policy depicted a very weak and insignificant correlation with students’ participation in university education (r= 0.050, p >0.05). A positive significant correlation between parental financial contribution and students’ participation was found between all the variables having a significance (p-value) <0.01 (0.873, p < 0.01, 0.82, p<0.01, 0.72, p<0.00) correlations implied that there was a strong relationship between parental financial contributions and students’ participation in the University of the Gambia. A moderate, positive and significant relationship between NGOs funding support and students’ participation in university education yielded a p value, < 0.000), implying an increase in students’ participation in university education following an increase in NGO funding. The study concluded that higher learning institutions adherence to the funding policy provided by the government, parental contribution ,financial support provided by NGOs and work study programs have a positive influence on students’ participation in University Education. The study recommends that opportunities for work-study programs should be exploited by designing flexible working hours, create awareness about the existence of funding policy, engage more with the stakeholders and the government to create an enabling environment for NGOs to operate effectively so that they can give more financial assistance and increase the level of students’ participation in higher education.