Per Student Expenditure and Learning Output in Science and Mathematics Subjects in Public Secondary Schools in Siaya County, Kenya

doi:10.7176/rhss/12-4-05

Abstract

The Government of the Republic of Kenya has continued to increase expenditure to education to enable acquisition of learning resources. However, low learning outputs have continued to be realized every time secondary education summative evaluation results are released. The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of per student expenditure on learning output in science and mathematics in public secondary schools in Siaya County, Kenya. The study was underpinned on the Education Production Functions Model by Hanushek (2008). The study employed convergent parallel mixed methods design. The target population for this study was 6175 comprising 247 principals, 988 teachers and 4940 students from the 247 public secondary schools in the study locale. A stratified random sampling technique was employed to select 376 respondents was used from 15 sampled schools. The average termly class mean scores were used to measure the students’ learning output in the schools. Questionnaires, interview guides and document analysis guide used to collect data on per student expenditure and learning output. Test re-test method was used to determine reliability of the instruments. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and presented in tables and graphical format, while the qualitative data was analyzed thematically and presented in quoted texts. The study found a positive linear relationship between per student expenditure and learning output. The coefficient of determination R 2 was established at 61.9%. In conclusion, schools which had appropriate resource inputs to meet quality learning requirements also had better learning output. Though nearly all the study schools fall short of the policy standard requirements with the predictor variable, the more the resources, the better the learning output in the schools. The study recommended that the national government should increase grant to cater for more school expenditure Keywords: Per Student Expenditure, Educational Expenditure, Learning Output, Secondary Schools, , Kenya. DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/12-4-05 Publication date: February 28 th 2022

Highlights

Background information The government has continuously increased its expenditure towards education; catering for costs that were initially left for parents and guardians to shoulder
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Per Student Expenditure and Learning Output Data on per student expenditure was arrived at cumulatively from public and private expenditure areas which were supplied by the study participants through the use of document analysis guides and questionnaires
The respondents were asked to supply the information regarding the amount of money charged by the school in different category areas namely; Parents Association (PA) charges for remedial charges, salary for teachers under Board of Management (BOM) terms, development fees, and the cost of learning facilities which include; classrooms, laboratories, laboratory equipment, land, uniform costs, among others

Summary

Introduction

Background information The government has continuously increased its expenditure towards education; catering for costs that were initially left for parents and guardians to shoulder. The government has availed the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) for financial cushioning on students’ charges (Thuo, 2020; Ngalu & Bommet, 2014) This is to enable the government to meet its policy on Education for All (EFA), global goal on universal secondary school completion by the year 2030 and build on knowledge, skills and values to enable increased productivity that will help root the country into her newly acquired status as a middle income country (UNESCO, 2015b, 2014). Despite these government initiatives to enable quality education, poor learning output is overarching the education sector with half of the candidates attaining low grades in the national examination. This poses a major concern to the education stakeholders who have to find lasting solutions to the persistently low learning output which threaten students’ global competitiveness

Objectives

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Results

Conclusion