A CASE OF STUDY OF THE INDIRECT COSTS OF FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION AND ITS IMPACT TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF UNIVERSAL FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION IN MATUNGULU DIVISION, MACHAKOS DISTRICT.

Abstract

The thrust of this research project was an investigation into the hidden costs embedded in the current Free Primary Education and their implication in the implementation process of this programme in public primary schools; a case study of Matungulu Division in Machakos District. In the reviewed literature, it has been that education is a human right; therefore, elementary education should be free and compulsory. However, in the developing countries, it has been a hurdle to meet these basic requirements. In the Kenya, Free Primary Education Policy was enacted in January 2003 and its implementation was a landmark policy decision by the government of the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC). The country’s budget increased by 17.4 % to a soaring 79.4 billion with 5.6 billion being allocated to the Free Primary (FPE). Despite this budgetary allocation to FPE programme, there still exists financial loophole, which the parents of the primary school going children have to seal for efficient and effective educational system. The objectives of the study were to: - 1. To establish the indirect costs embedded in the FPE programme to parents. 2.To investigate the availability and adequacy of physical facilities in the face of increased enrolment.3. To find out the hidden cost’s parents incurred in the FPE Programme. 4.Examine the effect of the hidden costs on pupils’ performance. 5.Investigate whether the rate of pupil attendance to school can be attributed to the effect of the hidden costs of FPE. The study used the descriptive survey research design. To find out the hidden costs of FPE and their implication in the implementation of the FPE, a guided questionnaire for head teachers was used. An interview schedule for the parents was used to complement and compare data solicited through the questionnaire and to probe for in-depth information from those directly affected by the hidden costs of Free Primary Education; the parents. The observation schedule was used to check the physical infrastructure and the amenities in the school. Out of the seventy-five public primary schools in Matungulu Division, fifteen of them were sampled out using the simple random sampling technique. This is well above the ten percent minimum that constitutes a sample in a descriptive study (Gay, 1987). The same technique was used to select sixty parents from the fifteen school, two parents of standard eight and two parents of standard one of every school who are members of P.T.A in each of the selected schools. All these sixty parents of the fifteen schools sampled out were interviewed. The descriptive statistics involving frequencies, percentages pie c harts and histograms were used to analyze the data. The result helped the researcher to come up with conclusions and percentages. The study established that the FPE programme has not catered for educational essentials such as school uniform, desks and school furniture, construction of additional classrooms, transport fees for the commuting pupils and has not catered fully for the feeding programme- the lunch programme.