An empirical analysis of factors affecting enrolment in secondary schools in Kenya

Abstract

Not all children who complete primary school go on to secondary education. Some families cannot afford to continue sending their children to school while others decide whether it is worthwhile to enroll their children in secondary school since they associate education with benefits, or losses that come as a cost either directly in terms of fees or as an opportunity cost associated with lower resources available for household consumption. This indirect opportunity cost and the value of a childs time will depend on the personal characteristics of the child (age, sex) and the value that the parents place on the childs time. Apart from these household based factors, there are school based factors that are likely to playa role in determining the payoff from education. Such factors as capacity of the system, school inputs, curriculum, school fees including all expenditure on secondary education, teacher experience, pupil/teacher ratio among many others. In this study, school expenditure and the pupil/teacher ratio are considered in this respect. It is shown that these two factors can influence the decision about enrolment. Further still there are environmental factors like whether a child is in rural or urban area and the distance to school which also playa role in school enrolment just like the quality of school in terms of inputs. If a school is located near the households dwelling unlt; then children from that household are more likely to be enrolled in the school since the transport/commuting time and cost is reduced. The further a school is located or the longer it takes to get to the nearest school the lower the probability that children will be enrolled. This study merges some district level data with data from Welfare Monitoring Survey, WMS III of 1997 in ~1e analysis of these three groups of factors. It is found that these factors affect enrolment and in doing so, creates gender disparity in the secondary education system. More girls were found not to be attending secondary school as compared to boys. Based on the findings of this study, incentives for enrolment are recommended, especially for girls. These include: Differential schooling cost, increased public subsidies, bursaries and scholarships to assist the needy students, incentives for greater new investment in market provision of secondary schools in order to improve on school quality, collaboration with non-governmental organizations and constituency development committees in establishing new schools and finally, incorporating a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) clause in the wages and pensions bargaining agreements.