Title:
IMPACT OF CONSTITUENCY DEVELOPMENT FUND IN FINANCING SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION IN NDARAGWA CONSTITUENCY, KENYA

Authors:
Joseph Gicheru Ndei ,*Dr. Peter Githae Kaboro and Prof. John Kanjogu Kiumi ,Kenya

Abstract:
Secondary school education aims at preparing the youth to play their roles in future as responsible citizens. Access to secondary education in public secondary schools in Kenya has not been fully achieved due to rising costs in education. The Kenya Government has therefore devised policies to help address issues of education access and retention through establishment of cost subsidies. The constituency development fund (CDF) was established in 2003 through an Act of Parliament. The principal aim of the fund is to mitigate the imbalance in regional development and provide people at the grassroots an opportunity to make expenditure choices that maximize their welfare in line with their needs and preferences. A key focus of CDF was to provide a devolved system of funding education. However, the extent to which CDF has succeeded in achieving this noble aim has not been investigated from the secondary school principals’ perspective. The focus of the study therefore was to determine the extent to which CDF as a means of financing secondary school education has succeeded in improving physical facilities, enhancing enrolment and reducing the dropout rate as perceived by the secondary school principals in public secondary schools in Ndaragwa Constituency. The study adopted an Ex-post facto research design where data were collected using self-administered questionnaires to 25 principals. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. The study found that CDF has not significantly impacted on improving the status of secondary school education in Ndaragwa Constituency in terms of improving physical facilities, enhancing enrolment and reducing dropout rates. The study recommends that CDF framework be revised in order to assist schools to address pertinent issues facing them and to improve the quality of education in all secondary schools in Kenya.