| dc.description.abstract | Education for All (EF A) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) have given many countries an incentive to attain Universal Primary Education (UPE) through accelerated and selected strategies. A few countries in Africa have implemented the free education policy before Kenya with mixed cases of success, problems and challenges. Since the introduction of free primary education in Kenya in 2003, it has been faced with different challenges especially on the management of funds and the general management problems arising from the increased enrolment in schools.
The purpose of this study was to establish the challenges facing the management of free primary Education in primary schools in Kadibo Division in Kisumu East District. To achieve this objective, the study was guided by the following specific objectives: to establish the management and administrative skills held by primary school headteachers and school management committees members, to determine the pupil-teacher ratio, to identify the financial challenges facing management of FPE and to determine the government preparedness for the implementation of FPE in Kadibo Division. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. The population for the study were public primary schools in Kadibo Division in Kisumu East District.
A total of 15 schools out of the 41 public primary schools in Kadibo Division were randomly sampled for the study. The target population for the study were Headteachers, School Management Committee members, Area Education Officer (A.E.O), and Teachers. Purposive sampling was used to sample headteachers, School Management Committee members and AEO while random sampling technique was used to sample teachers for the study. A total of 121 respondents were targeted by the study. Questionnaires, interview schedules and observation schedules were used as instruments for data collection. Data collected were coded and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).
The analyzed data were then presented in form of table, pie charts and bar graphs where applicable. The study found that the headteachers had management skills as 57% indicated that they had trained in management skills. The study also found that the pupil teacher ratio was high (40:1-50:1) as indicated by 36% of the respondents. The study further found that late disbursement of finances by the government was a major financial challenge. Other financial challenges included misappropriation of funds, lack of proficient accounting skills by those in charge, poor book keeping, misunderstanding between parents and those in charge of the funds over the use of the funds and lack of prowess on financial matters by the headteachers.
It was finally found that the government was prepared for FPE as indicated by 57% of the respondents. The study concluded that pupil-teacher ratio is high in primary schools in Kadibo Division. Regarding the financial challenges, it was concluded that the major challenges facing the management of primary schools were late disbursement of FPE funds, misappropriation of funds, lack of proficient accounting skills by those in charge and poor book keeping. Finally it was concluded that. the government was prepared for free primary education. The study recommended that a similar study should be done to find out the impacts of FPE on the performance of Pupils at KCSE. | en_US |
