Determinants of the amount of fees charged to students in secondary schools: a case of public secondary schools in Bungoma South District

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the determinants of the amount of fees charged to students in public secondary schools in Bungoma South District. This was due to the realization that amount of fees charged by public schools in Bungoma South district varied from one school to another. The Study examined how income generated activities, management of financial resources and other services offered by schools influenced the amount of fees charged. The study also examined challenges faced by school managers and how they influenced the amount of fees charged. The study used ex post-facto design where head teachers, school bursars and district auditor of schools were targeted as respondents. The study targeted 40 public secondary schools with 50% of the schools being used as a sample. Questionnaires, interview schedules, document analysis and observation schedule were used as research instruments. Stratified sampling was used to select schools for the study. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study found out that the amount of fees charged was influenced by the nature of the school income generating activities and other services offered by the school. The study also established that most schools had a problem in making fees collection. This situation has made schools not to benefit from economies of scale resulting from bulky purchases and investment which could have seen the benefit passed to the parents in form of reduced fees. The study recommends that improvement in fee should be made to enable the school make bulky purchases with surplus funds being invested in income generating activities enable savings and generation of supplementary funds which could see the benefit passed to parents in form of reduced fees. The study recommends establishment of day schools since they charge lower fees compared to boarding schools. The study further recommends for similar study to be carried out in other areas to establish if the findings can be generalized.