proposal - chepkwony bonny edited 2

EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE POLICY ON

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION: A SURVEY OF SCHOOLS

IN KONOIN SUB-COUNTY, BOMET COUNTY, KENYA

BY

CHEPKWONY RICHARD KIBII

REG. NO. EM02/2010/2011

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITED IN PARTIAL FULLFILMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF EDUCATION IN

EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION

MAASAI MARA UNIVERSITY

April, 2014.

DECLARATION AND APPROVAL

This proposal is my original work and has not been presented to any other institution of learning or

for the award of the Degree or Diploma.

CHEPKWONY RICHARD KIBII

REG .NO: EM02/2010/2011 DATE.10 June 2013

Signature

This proposal has been submitted for examination with approval by supervisors from Maasai Mara

University.

1. .DR.ALEX RONOH

Signature

MAASAI MARA UNIVERSITY

DATE:

2. NAME: DR.P.MAITTYA

Signature

MAASAI MARA UNIVERSITY

DATE:

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ABSTRACT

The study will examine the effectiveness of physical infrastructure policy on the effectiveness of free primary education in Konoin Sub-County of Kenya. The study objectives will be: To examine the nature of physical infrastructure policy under free primary education strategy in public schools in Kenya; to determine how the implementation of physical infrastructure policy has affected the effectiveness of free primary education in public schools in Kenya, and to establish the contribution of public primary school management committees on physical infrastructure policy on the effectiveness of free primary education in Kenya. The study will adopt a descriptive survey research design where 20 schools will be sampled through stratified probability and purposive sampling techniques. The respondents will include: 20 head teachers, 40 school committees, 160 class teachers and 26 pupils will be selected from each school. Data will be collected using questionnaires, interview schedules, focus group discussion guide and by the observation guide. Analysed quantitative data will be analyzed and presented descriptively through frequency counts, means and percentages while qualitative data will presented by tallied and presented using frequency distribution tables, bar graphs, pie charts as well as descriptive and explanatory accounts. The conclusion will be based on the findings.

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ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

CDTF - Community Development Trust Fund

FPE-Free Primary Education

MOE-Ministry of Education

BOG- Board of Governors

HOD- Head of Department

KUPPET-Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers

KNUT- Kenya National Union of Teachers

DEO-District Education Officer

SPSS-Statistical Packages for Social Sciences

SMC School management Committee

CDF-Constituency Development Fund

EFA- Education For All

NARC- National Rainbow Coalition

UNESCO- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

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List of Tables

Table 3.1 Target Population..19

Table: 3.2 Sampling Size ................................................................................................................. 20

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file:///var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/HYPERLINK%23_Toc386035619

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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CHAPTER ONE

Background of the Study

Education is the cornerstone of economic growth and social development. It is a principal means of

improving the welfare of individuals and primary school education is the foundation (World bank,

1995). Expansion and success of education relies on infrastructure which affects education access,

contributes to quality learning environment and student achievement (Crampton, 2003).

The importance of infrastructure cannot be gainsaid. If infrastructure is not sufficient or not

maintained, there will be obstacles in education access and participation especially to the vulnerable

groups in society. Of more than 115 million school age children out of school in developing

countries, the vast majority come from one or more of the traditionally disadvantaged groups in

society; rural, female and poor. (Crampton, 2003).

The quest to engender development is not a recent phenomenon. According to Otach, (2008)

before 1960, free and universal primary education had not been extended to African children

in any of the East African British colonies, racial discrimination in primary education was

still intact. The expansion of primary education remained a crucial problem in the colonial

era. The situation did not radically change with the achievement of independence in 1963.

ACTIONAID-Kenya (2004) reported that, the achievement of independence heightened

pressure to increase the school population and a rapid more towards universal primary

education. The purpose of education was political, social, cultural, humanistic and economic,

(UNICEF & World Bank, 2009). It was expected that the education would mould a whole

individual who will contribute profitably to society.

The first step towards free primary education was in1971 (Ngaroga, 2001); this was when

President Jomo Kenyatta abrogated tuition fees for the economically marginal districts in the

country. By July 1973, districts such as Marsabit, Mandera, West Pokot, Wajir, Tana River,

Turkana, Samburu, Garissa and Lamu had free primary education. The government also built

and supported boarding schools in these areas. A national feeding programme was also launched in

these areas. The main idea here was to encourage more parents to retain their children in

school. In December 1973 another presidential decree made education free for the first four years

of primary education throughout the country. (Ngaroga, 2001) observes that the presidential decree

was one of the most dramatic political pronouncements since it took the planners and the public

unaware. The immediate result was increase in enrollments in primary schools from 1.8

7

million in 1973 to 2.8 million in January 1974. The Ministry of Education had to rethink of its

priorities and operations in order to cope with the staggering rise of pupil enrollment. In 1976 the

Gachathi Report recommended an extension of the waiver of fees to the full seven years of primary

education by1980, (UNICEF & World Bank, 2009). Despite the existence of free primary education

by 1980, the schools witnessed many challenges that eventually contributed to its failure and

the introduction of levies in primary schools.

In January 2003 the NARC (National Rainbow Coalition) government implemented the free

primary education programme with the aim of providing more opportunities to the disadvantaged

school age children (Otach, 2008). The programme created a positive outcome because it resulted

in significant increase in enrolment in a majority of the schools (Otach, 2008). The policy

abolished school fees and other levies arguing that fees and levies posed a serious

hindrance to children wanting to access education in schools (Okwach & George, 1997). The

free primary education policy has been described as laudable (Rob et al., 2004), because of its effect

on gross enrolment rate (GER) which increased from 92 percent in 2002 to 104 percent in 2003 of

the school age children population (Otach, 2008), resulting in more than 1.5 million children who

were previously out -of -school joining primary schools (UNESCO, 2005).

This school infrastructure support was to build 215 classrooms in the former North Eastern

Province by September 2005. Others were: Basic Education Project (BEP), a Government of Kenya

and Oil producing and Exporting Countries (GoK, OPEC) project that aimed to have 14000

classrooms nationwide by 2007, land resource management project sponsored by Government of

Kenya, World Bank, the Community Development Trust Fund (CDTF) and European Union (EU)

support to primary schools in all areas. There is also the Constituency Development Fund (CDF)

which provides funding to a wide range of community based projects including school construction.

This requires effective coordination through District Education Boards (DEBs).

The Kenya government priority is to provide additional physical facilities in order to ensure

affordable and equitable access to education. In this endeavour, the government intends to

collaborate with the private sector, non-governmental organizations and development partners.

Previous education commissions reports such as: Kamunge Education Report of 1988 and Koech

Education Report of 1999 have placed importance in the provision of schools phys