Strategic Role of National Government Constituencies Development Fund to the Reforms of Secondary Schools in Mombasa County, Kenya

Abstract

Researchers and practitioners have long been attempting to establish the relationship between bursary and enrolment rate in secondary schools. Some studies tend to indicate that bursary, learning facilities, and other physical facilities have significant correlations with the enrolment rate in secondary schools, whereas other studies found no direct relationship. However, this study, in attempting to provide through empirical evidence some insights into what is involved in this area focused on the strategic role that NG-CDF plays in enhancing education reforms in Kenya by looking at the link between NG-CDF’s allocations bursary, learning facilities, and other physical facilities in secondary schools in Mombasa County. The research relied on secondary data sourced from Ministry of education and the National government constituency development fund. The study initially targeted 43 schools, but the data could only be obtained for 38 schools, indicating a response rate of 88.4%. The collected data was subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistics analyses to help in answering the research question. The findings of the study revealed that there a moderate significant positive correlation between NG-CDF’s bursary allocation and the enrolment rate in Mombasa County. However, NG-CDF’s allocations to learning facilities and other physical facilities have weak and very weak correlation with enrolment rate respectively. Since bursaries have been found to be essential in enrolment rate in schools, the study recommended that it is proper for the NG-CDF Committees in Mombasa County to provide bursary allocations in time and in line with the school term calendar to enable beneficiaries to maximize their time in school to study instead of staying at home to look for additional funds. Similarly, the beneficiaries should be guaranteed continuous funding.