| dc.description.abstract | This research study aimed at investigating the contribution of education subsidies to students' participation in public secondary schools in Kyuso District. The study examined the types of education subsidies available to secondary schools students which included the free day tuition, education bursary fund and school physical infrastructure funds. The study aimed at answering the research questions of what types of education subsidies that are received in secondary schools, contribution of free day secondary tuition to students' enrolment, the relationship between education bursary fund and students retention rate and the relationship between school physical infrastructure funds to students' completion rate in secondary schools
The study could be of practical value in helping the government to adequately subsidize secondary school education to enhance equal access to quality education to all secondary school going age and maximize students' participation in secondary schools. It is hoped that the study would help in pinpointing the areas and issues related to education subsidies in terms of free day tuition, bursaries and school physical infrastructure funds and their role in enhancing students' participation in terms of enrolment, retention and completion rates. The findings of the study would also help the Ministry of Education with knowledge required to ensure equitable distribution of education subsidies and better way and methods of using the education subsidies in secondary schools.
The research study employed a descriptive survey design and made use of both qualitative and quantitative approaches to collect. information. The researcher targeted the principals, the class teachers and the students as the respondents for the study. The study made judgments regarding to the degree to which students' participation was influenced by education subsidies in their secondary school education.
Purposive sampling technique was used to select the secondary schools as well as school principals. Simple random sampling was used to select the class teachers who were involved in the study while stratified random sampling was used to select the students who participated in the study. Three instruments were developed and used to collect the data which included an interview schedule for principals, two questionnaires, one for class teachers and another one for students. The research instruments were piloted on a small representative sample identical to but not included in the group that was involved in the actual study. The instruments were subjected to analysis after the pilot study with consultation with supervisors. After the instruments were found to be valid and reliable, the actual data collection was then carried out.
The collected data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics where frequency tables and percentages were used to present the data. The study revealed that education subsidies in forms bursaries, free day tuition and school physical infrastructure funds increased enrolment rates, retention and completion rates of secondary school students in public secondary schools. However the study revealed that the education subsidies were inadequate and inequitably distributed especially for the bursaries and school physical infrastructure funds and experienced delays in their remissions.
The study made the recommendations that the government should increase the amount of all the three types of subsidies provided in our secondary schools. The bursary fund should be awarded at the school level instead of the constituency bursary committee which at times overlooks the neediest students. The study made the conclusions that both education subsidies and students participation to public secondary schools are closely inter-woven and inter-dependent for the purpose of achieving full access to educational opportunities. There is therefore need for adequate and timely remission of education subsidies in order to ensure full participation of students in public secondary schools. | en_US |
