Supplementary sources of funds for improving educational facilities in public secondary schools in Kiambu west district - Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify supplementary sources of funds which contribute to improving educational facilities in public secondary schools in Kiambu West District; and to establish whether the funds paid by parents and the government are sufficient for improving educational facilities in public secondary schools in Kiambu West District. Furthermore, the study sought to examine the problems associated with supplementary sources of funds for improving educational facilities in public secondary schools in Kiambu West District and to establish whether public secondary schools with supplementary sources of funds in Kiambu West District have better educational facilities. This study examines school-based economic activities that secondary schools are engaged in while trying to bridge the resource gap between the financial resources from parents, the community and the government. Thirty-eight secondary schools head teachers in Kiambu West District constituted the sample for this study. A questionnaire and an observation schedule were administered to the head teachers and their schools respectively. The data collected revealed that many schools had made an effort to generate up to 4% of required funds from school based economic activities to supplement existing resources. These activities varied in diversity and viability among schools. Dependency relationships were found to exist between some of the variables by the chi-square tests of independence conducted. Furthermore, many secondary schools faced financial constraints and this affected the smooth running of their educational programmes. Data revealed that schools lacked essential teaching facilities and observation showed that they performed poorly in national examinations. Moreover, Head teachers lacked entrepreneurial skills, capital and time, in an attempt to initiate and run income-generating activities. This study recommends that secondary schools develop their school-based income generating units to operate optimally and manage them along business principals. It further recommends that the Ministry of Education Science and Technology formulates clear policy on income-generating activities for schools to allow schools to have a vote heads to streamline the acquisition and disbursement of funds for these activities; as well as providing entrepreneurial training for head teachers.