Factors influencing sustainability of constituency development fund funded projects in public primary schools in Kwanza Division, Kwanza Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

Development in a country takes place if its young learners perform well in education at different levels. In Kenya performance at primary level is ascertained after pupils sit for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) Examinations at standard eight thus necessitated the need for the availability of Constituency Development Fund in Kwanza Sub-County to spur development in schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing sustainability of Constituency Development fund funded projects in public primary schools in Kwanza Division, Kwanza sub-county. A project is considered to be sustainable if it continues to deliver a high level of benefits after the donor ends major financial, managerial and technical support. The Constituency Development Fund (CDF) act provides that only projects that benefit the community at large should benefit from CDF funding though a significant number of CDF initiated projects since 2012/13 have been successfully completed and are in use, many more have stalled or still ongoing several months after being initiated. Others are underutilized or not utilized at all. The objectives of the study were: - to establish how BOM influence sustainability of CDF funded projects identification and costing, the extent at which political interest influence the sustainability of constituency development projects, to examine how local community involvement also influence the sustainability of constituency development projects. Also to examine how availability of funds influences the same constituency development funds funded projects in public primary schools. The study findings may be used by the ministry of education to formulate financial policies related to CDF funds management and sustainability. The study is based on the theory of needs achievement as asserted by David Mcelland. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The respondents were 35 BOM chairpersons, 35 Head teachers, 1 DEO, 3 PDOs and 13 CDF committee members. The researcher used questionnaires, interview guide and observation checklist to collect data. Validity of the instrument was established through sharing the information in the questionnaires with the lecturers and colleague students to establish whether the questions were relevant. Reliability of the instrument was tested through test-retest method. Quantitative data was analyzed through descriptive statistics using SPSS programme and presented using percentages, tables and frequencies. Qualitative data was analyzed through content analysis which in turn was analyzed by organizing data into themes.