Implication Of Subsidised Fees Programme On Pedagogical Practices In Public Secondary Schools In Wajir County , Kenya.

Abstract

The main aim of launching Free Tuition Secondary Education programme by the government of Kenya in 2008 was to raise access by reducing the cost of education in public secondary schools; however, since its inception, concerns have been raised on whether its implementation had any impact on the pedagogical practices at the secondary school level. In order to address these concerns, this study was carried out to examine the extent of adherence to regulations of subsidized fees in the utilization of financial resources and the impact of subsidized fees on procurement of instructional materials. Descriptive survey research design was used on a target population of 350 respondents comprised of 40 principals, 40 Boards of Management (BoM) chairpersons and all the 270 secondary school teachers in Wajir County. The sample size was 94 respondents, made up of 20 principals, 20 BoM chairpersons and 54 secondary school teachers. Proportionate sampling was used to select teachers while purposive sampling was used to select the principals and BoM chairpersons. The main tools for data collection were questionnaires, interviews, observation and document analysis. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics while qualitative data was analysed by organizing it thematically based on the objectives. The study has established that even after the introduction of subsidized fee , the school principals did not adhere to the procurement procedures when acquiring teaching and learning materials, budgets were not approved by the BoM chairpersons and that finances to support Free Tuition Secondary Education were inadequate and delayed before disbursement; thus affecting the quality of teaching.