Influence of hidden costs in education on students' participation in public secondary schools in Kikuyu sub county, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of hidden costs of education on students’ participation in public secondary schools in Kikuyu Sub County. The background of the study touches on efforts made to curb low participation and the progress made in other parts of the world. It touches on efforts made to improve participation and the challenges faced, which forms the basis of the study to find out the influence of hidden costs in education on students’ participation in public secondary schools in Kikuyu Sub County. In the statement of the problem the students’ enrolment data obtained from Kikuyu District Education office between years2007-2014 shows that5.7% of the students who enrolled in form one did not graduate in form four despite the fact that there is Free Day Secondary Education. This calls for a need to carry out a research on the causes. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: To determine the influence of lunch charges, to establish the influence of parents teachers association levies, to establish the influence of policy of school uniform and to determine the influence of opportunity costs on students’ participation in public secondary schools in Kikuyu Sub County. The study will be significant to educational planners, administrators, parents and the community in general in devising measures that could ensure completion of the school cycle. The findings may be used as a basis of further research. Under the limitation of the study the researcher explained the importance of the study and guaranteed confidentiality of the respondents. Under the delimitation of the study; it was confined in the public secondary school and focussed on hidden costs of education. Literature review looked on how these variables have influenced transition in other parts of the world. The theoretical framework was based on education production function theory. The study employed descriptive design. The target population was the 28 principal, 434 teachers and 13949 students in all public secondary schools in Kikuyu Sub County. The sample size of this study was 28 principals, 196 teachers and 370 students. The sample in total consisted of 594 respondents. To select schools stratified sampling design was used and students and teachers from the selected school were selected using simple random sampling design. All the principals from the 28 schools were involved because their number was too small for sampling. The study utilized questionnaires and interview schedule. The reliability of the instruments was done by performing Pearson’s product correlation. To enhance the validity, the instruments were approved by the supervisors in the department of educational administration and planning. The data was collected by the researcher. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics using the Statistical Packages for Social Scientists (SPSS) software. The data was presented using frequency tables, graphs and pie charts. The study found that the cost of school meals affect students’ participation in education in Kikuyu, lowering the participation of students in secondary schools.PTA levies were found to contribute to students dropping out of school. It was also found that school uniform contributes to students dropping out of school. The findings indicate that opportunity cost also influence the students’ participation in education. The study concluded that hidden cost have influence on students participation in education in public secondary school in Kikuyu Sub County