BY

KOGO WILSON KIPNGETICH

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Education in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Philosophy

in Economics of Education, Department of Educational Management and Policy Studies

MOI UNIVERSITY

ELDORET

NOVEMBER, 2014

DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE

This thesis is my original work and has not been presented for a degree or Diploma in any other learning institution. No part of this thesis should be reproduced without prior permission of this author and/or Moi University.

KOGO WILSON KIPNGETICH

EDU/PGA/1024/06

Signature: ………………………………. Date …………………………

DECLARATION BY THE SUPERVISORS

This thesis has been submitted for examination with our approval as university supervisors

PROF. JOHN M. BOIT

DEPARTMENT OF GENDER AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

MOI UNIVERSITY

Signature …………………………………… Date: …………………………

DR. ZACHARIA K. KOSGEI

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND

POLICY STUDIES

MOI UNIVERSITY

Signature ……………………………. Date: ………………………….

To my grandmother Jepketer Cheseret (Koko), who sacrificed a lot for the sake of my upbringing and my teachers of Chemundu Primary school who sacrificed a lot through moral and financial support for the sake of my education in 1980s. To my beloved wife Nancy and Children:- Vincent Kiptoo, Victor Kipkoech, Carlos Kiprop and Faith Jerotich, for their inspiration and encouragement during my research study.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Moi University for having given me the opportunity to undertake my masters’ degree in this great institution. I am very grateful to my University, supervisors Prof. John M. Boit and Dr. Zacharia K. Kosgey for their constant encouragement, valuable assistance, positive criticism and guidance during this study. Furthermore, my lecturers in the Department of Educational Management and Policy Studies whose foundation in course work enabled me to carry out my research study successfully.

Special mention goes to my colleague Principals of schools in Eldoret West Sub-County who co-operated and supported me, as respondents, during the research and specifically when collecting data from the field. Gratitude also goes to the other respondents namely:- the constituency bursary committee and the orphans who participated in the study for their co-operation too. I wish also to convey deep appreciation to all my friends such as Mr. Paul Sawe, Mr. David Kessio, Dr. J. K. Changach and Mr. Barnabas Kongwalei, for their inspiration, encouragement and positive criticism.

Finally, my gratitude goes to members of my family, wife and children and my mother, relatives and well wishers for being very understanding, mindful and encouraging during my research study. I am indebted to you all for your prayers too. To God for his grace which enabled me to enjoy good health and sound mind, strength and wisdom during this study.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL

The Kenya Government introduced the Constituency Bursary Fund (CBF) in 2003 with the aim of cushioning the country’s poor and vulnerable groups against the high and increasing cost of secondary education, thereby reducing inequalities. The fund targets orphans as well as those from poor households and urban slums. From 2003/2004, this fund was channeled through the constituencies and coordinated by the constituency bursary committees. The purpose of this study was to establish the effectiveness of Secondary Education Bursary Fund (SEBF) in financing education for orphans in Kenya with respect to equity, access, participation and retention of needy orphans in secondary schools. The specific objectives for the study were to:- establish the effectiveness of the CBC in the targeting process, determine the effectiveness of CBC in the implementation of the MOE stipulated guidelines in the process of disbursing funds and find out the extent to which CBC is able to adequately and continuously support the needy orphan beneficiaries for a full secondary school cycle. The theoretical framework for this study was derived from the systems theory of organizations developed by Ludwig Von Bertalanffy. The study was carried out in Eldoret West Sub-County in Uasin Gishu County in Kenya. The study population was all the 43 secondary schools in Eldoret West Sub-County and the sample size consisted of 19 principals of schools, 8 members of CBC and 248 orphans enrolled in various schools. The study employed simple random sampling, stratified sampling and purposive sampling in selecting the respondents. Questionnaires were used to collect primary data while document analysis was used to obtain secondary data. Test-retest method was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaires and a correlation of 0.73 was obtained. To ensure content validity, the comments and criticisms of expert lecturers were sought and incorporated in the final draft of the questionnaires. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, from which statistical frequencies and percentages were computed to facilitate comparisons and conclusions. The study revealed that CBC was ineffective in the targeting process of needy orphans, funding and adhering to the MOE stipulated guidelines in the disbursement of funds. Among other critical issues, the study revealed that CBF had not raised the access and retention of the needy orphans to a great extent. In view of the findings the study recommended that the government and the CBC need to sensitize and involve the relevant stakeholders in the targeting process, increase funding to the bursary scheme and strictly monitor the implementation of the MOE stipulated guidelines.

AIDS Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome

AMPATH Academic Model for Prevention and Treatment of HIV

ASAL Arid and Semi-arid Land

CBC Constituency Bursary Committee

CBF Constituency Bursary Fund

CDF Constituency Development Fund

DEO Sub-County Education Officer

EFA Education for All

FDSE Free Day Secondary Education

FPE Free Primary Education

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GER Gross Enrolment Rate

GOK Government of Kenya

HIV Human Immuno Deficiency Virus

IPAR Institute of Policy Analysis and Research

KESSP Kenya Education Sector Support Programme

KIPPRA Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis.

KSSHA Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association

LATF Local Authority Trust Fund

MDG’s Millennium Development Goals

MOE Ministry of Education

NARC National Rainbow Coalition

NCEOP National Committee on Educational Objectives and Policies

NER Net Enrolment Rate

NGO’s Non-Governmental Organizations

ODA Overseas Development Agency

OVC Orphans and vulnerable Children

SEBF Secondary Education Bursary Fund

SEIA Secondary Education in Africa

SWAP Sector Wide Approach

UNAIDS United Nations Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome

UNDP United Nation Development Program

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations

UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund

UPE Universal Primary Education

WHO World Health Organization

YPLA Young People Learning Agency

Table 4.9: Number of Orphans Enrolled and the Drop-Outs for the Period 2006 to 2009…………………………………………………………………………………102

Figure 2.2: Transmission from Primary to Secondary Education 2007-2010……………….50

159

This chapter highlights the background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, scope, study limitation, assumptions of the study, theoretical framework, conceptual framework and operational definition of key terms.

Education represents opportunity. It is the most basic insurance against poverty. At all ages, it empowers people with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to shape a better future. (Sianesi, 2003).

Secondary education is a critical level in any education system. As a transitional stage to higher education, it is important for economic growth, and helps in socialization and improvement of youth, who are at risk of unemployment (UNESCO, 2005). It facilitates acquisition of attitudes, skills, and competencies needed in the labour market. It also promotes greater civil participation and support further self-development. The importance of secondary education to a country like Kenya, therefore, cannot be over emphasized. The need for a workforce that can adapt to the fast changing global dynamics is critical for sustainable growth and development. Secondary education links primary schooling to further training in tertiary institutions and forms a human capital base that is the cornerstone of firm productivity (Mingat and Tan, 1996). This level of education has both private and social returns, not to mention the spillover effects which make it a concern of both individuals and the society (Manda, 2002).

The beginning of the 1990s was marked by several international conferences emphasizing the importance of education. It is worth noting the Jomtien, Thailand World Conference on Education for All sponsored by several international institutions, the World Bank, UNDP, UNESCO, and UNICEF and the Mexico World Congress on Educational Management and Development, both held in 1990. At the Jomtien world conference of Education for All (EFA) in 1990, most developing countries reaffirmed their commitment to providing to their school age children, universal access to the first cycle of education. Following this declaration, enrolment expansion at the primary school level throughout the developing world increased. Unfortunately, the Jomtien conference paid little attention to the consequences of enrolment expansion at the primary school level in relation to the resources needed for secondary schools. However, it was clear then that in many developing countries, secondary school participation rates could not grow rapidly without changes in the structure and the nature of funding (Lewin and Caillods, 2001).That made many government bodies in the world to review how secondary education was going to benefit the poor and thus a lot of bursaries and scholarships were availed.

In Singapore, the government through the Ministry of education has a bursary scheme in place known as Edusave Merit Bursary that is meant for students whose household income is less than $4000 a month. They provide $300 for secondary 1 to 5. Eligibility is for students who are already in secondary school and whose performances are good, that is, 25% in a stream (MOE, 2012). This goes a long way to retain students who would have otherwise dropped out due to lack of school fees.

In UK, a key priority of the Government is to eliminate the gap in attainment between those from poorer and those from more affluent backgrounds, and to ensure every young person participates in and benefits from a place in the 16-19 education and training known as Young Peoples Learning Agency Bursary Scheme. The Government provides funding to tackle this disadvantage both through the YPLA’s funding formula and through support to help young people meet the costs of participating in education and training post-16 19 (YPLA, 2012).This further helps students to be retained in schools.

In India, the National Scholarship Scheme has been implemented since 1961.The objective of this Scheme is to provide scholarships to the brilliant but poor students so that they can pursue their studies in spite of poverty. The Scholarship Scheme for Talented Children from Rural Areas for Class VI to XII is an on-going scheme, since 1971-72, with the objective to achieve equalization of educational opportunities, and to provide funding to the development of talent from rural areas by educating talented rural children in good schools. The schemes were implemented as Centrally Sponsored Schemes up to IX Plan. The Department then merged these schemes to form the “National Merit Scholarship Scheme” for implementing within an approved outlay (Ahmed et al, 2007). When such schemes are ongoing there is one goal, the retention of students in schools. The parent or guardian has to swear an affidavit to establish that they are genuinely needy.

In 1994, the government of China directed bursaries to minority areas for their educational needs. Similarly, the government of Mexico directs bursaries to help indigenous students pay for textbooks and other learning materials. Related to targeted bursaries are school improvement funds, which are used in Armenia, Chile, India, and Paraguay. Such funds are usually provided on a competitive basis to initiatives designed locally to promote increased school participation and autonomy (Ranis and Stewaat, 2001).

In Zambia and Malawi, studies show that close to70% of secondary school students are entitled to bursary schemes which are supposed to cover 75% tuition fees for most beneficiaries and up to 100% for vulnerable groups such as total orphans. Bursary schemes are also favored to improve retention of girls in the schools (World Bank, 2006).Even though bursary schemes are designed to improve retention of students in public secondary schools, some students drop out because of extreme poverty levels. For instance, the bursary scheme does not address other expenses like provision of uniforms and other personal effects (Sharma, 2005).

In South Africa, schools are compelled to inform parents of the school fee exemption for needy learners. In 2006, the country undertook to develop a frame work which allows disadvantaged schools to receive subsidies if they enrolled non-fee paying learners as the number of exemptions granted to needy learners at certain schools was becoming a burden to school finances. A 2003 Review on Resourcing, Financing and Cost of Education in public secondary had revealed that parents who are unable to pay school fees were treated unfairly has schools came up with all sorts of hidden expenses. Also schools did not inform parents on their right to apply for exception and schools discriminated against learners whose parents did not pay or were unable to pay (Hurrell, 2011).

The Kenya government, right from independence recognized the role of education as a cornerstone of socio-economic development and a need of improving the levels of individuals and the society at large (Ayot and Briggs, 1992). The greater emphasis placed on education by the government was further reflected in its allocation of more funds with respect to other sectors of the economy. To emphasize on this, the Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005 clearly spells out the government’s commitment to continue providing free and compulsory basic education for all the children (GOK, 2005).

Accordingly, in Kenya, public spending on education and training increased from 6.2% of GDP in 2007/08 to about 7.4% in 2009/10 (GOK, 2011). This represents about 25% of the total government expenditure. In 2009/10, about 88.5% of the total education expenditure was recurrent, down from 91.9% in 2007/08 (Table 1.1).

Source: GOK, Appropriation Accounts and Economic Surveys

In 1993/1994, the Kenya Government introduced the Secondary School Education Bursary Fund (SEBF) to deal with the inability of poor and vulnerable children to pay fees. From 2003/2004, these funds were channeled through the constituencies throughout the country and coordinated by the Constituency Bursary Committees (CBC). The objectives of the scheme include: - increase student access to secondary schools, ensure retention of students in secondary schools, promote transition and completion rates and reduce disparities and inequalities in the provision of secondary school education. According to this circular, the bursary programme targets the following groups of students: - orphans, the girl child, children in difficult circumstances (those with special needs and girls rescued from difficult circumstances), children from poor households (especially those with no income) and children from ASAL areas and urban slums (GOK, 2005). The philosophy of the scheme was to translate in to reality that no child who qualifies for secondary education should be denied access due to their inability to pay fees (Onsomu, 2005).

On the contrary, many students from poor families drop out of school even when they had performed exemplarily well in primary school .i.e. Scoring high on the KCPE (Odebero et al, 2007). The challenge that most students from poor backgrounds face is the fact that secondary schools are not actually free of charge. The high drop out rates has caused a negative economic development and resulted into wasted talents (Gachathi, 1976).This is supported by (Todaro, 1980) who stated that the major problem facing developing countries is high rate of school dropouts. School enrolment and retention in public secondary education are directly related to family income (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2004). That is, only rich families can afford to send their children to secondary school. It’s against this backdrop that bursary schemes should address reasons behind their conception that is to support needy students to stay in school.

Given the foregoing policy statements in regard to equalizing educational opportunities through bursary subsidies among children from poor households, Eldoret West Sub-County is not an exception. More so increasing numbers of orphans due to HIV/AIDS poses a great challenge for the government since these children need care and schooling to grow into productive citizens. This indicates that a good number of orphans left from this epidemic need to be assisted.

There was need for an analysis of the concrete reality in which provisions of bursaries was being carried out and determine its influence on retention of the orphaned in secondary schools.

In Kenya, every child has a right to free and compulsory basic education. Furthermore; on the bill of rights, all the state organs and all public officers have a duty to address the needs of the vulnerable groups such as orphans in the society, (GOK, 2010). In 2004, the number of orphans in Kenya was estimated at 1.8 million and has since increased to 2.4 million (GOK, 2012a). More than half of Kenya’s populations are below the poverty line, the numbers of orphans have been increasing due to HIV/AIDS and the costs of education are escalating. Majority of households, especially among the poor and the vulnerable groups, are unable to access the benefits accruing from investment in the development of quality secondary education (KIPPRA, 2003).

Despite the rationale for the introduction of such safety-nets as secondary education bursary funds in the education sector, there are increasing concerns regarding their ability and sensitivity in cushioning the income poor and vulnerable groups against adverse effects of the escalating costs of secondary education (KIPPRA, 2003). The concern of this study was to establish the ability and sensitivity of SEBF in cushioning the income poor and vulnerable groups in particular, the orphans, against adverse effects of escalating costs of Secondary Education.

Without appropriate intervention, therefore, the needy orphans will most likely fail to access and participate in education and hence drop out of school. This threatens to undermine the country’s achievements in literacy, while increasing the dropout rates and the number of poorly educated children hence undermining the Education For All ( EFA) goals (UNESCO, 2010). This motivated this study on the effectiveness of SEBF in financing education for orphans in Kenya with respect to access participation and retention of orphans, enrolled in secondary schools.

The purpose of this study was to establish the effectiveness of secondary school education funds in financing education for orphans in Kenya with respect to access, participation and retention in secondary schools.

The specific objectives of the study were to:-

To establish the effectiveness of the CBC in the targeting process in identifying the needy orphan students in secondary schools.

To determine the effectiveness of CBC in the implementation of the ministry of education stipulated guidelines in the process of disbursing funds to the identified needy orphans in secondary schools.

To find out the extent to which CBC is able to adequately and continuously support the needy orphan beneficiaries for a full secondary school cycle.

The main research question is:- How effective is the secondary school education funds (SEBF) in financing education for orphans in Kenya with respect to participation, access and retention in secondary schools.

Which methods does the CBC use in identifying the needy orphans in secondary schools?

How effective does the CBC disburse funds to the needy orphan beneficiaries in secondary schools?

To what extent has CBC ensured that the identified needy orphan beneficiaries are adequately funded for a full secondary education cycle?

This study is unique in that it focuses on the role played by CBF in the access and retention of needy orphans in secondary schools. The findings of this study, may therefore, shed light on the effectiveness of CBF in financing particularly the needy orphans in secondary schools.

The government and the MOE will be able to identify challenges CBC is facing in its attempt to ensure that needy orphans access secondary education. The study would enable them to come up with appropriate measures of making CBC more effective in enhancing orphan education in secondary schools.

Accordingly, the study findings may be useful to the schools as well. The findings may act as a reminder to the principals and the teachers on their roles that are of great assistance to the needy orphans. The school should be able to sensitize the orphans on the existence of CBF and the necessary requirements expected by CBC from an applicant. This would enhance the effectiveness of CBC and hence the needy orphans would be retained in secondary schools.

Consequently, the CBF committees may get an insight into the extent to which they have been able to adequately fund the needy orphans in secondary schools. The study may also provide the weaknesses of the fund as far as targeting process, funding and retention rates of the needy orphans is concerned. The findings of this study may be of great assistance to CBC, in that, mechanisms would be put in place to ensure that the weaknesses are addressed for the benefit of the needy orphan in particular.

The stakeholders such as parents, guardians and the local leadership will benefit a lot from the findings. The findings may sensitize them on their roles and the contributions they need to make, in order to assist CBC be more effective in funding orphan education.

Finally, these findings would assist the needy orphans realize that, they also have a role to play in the targeting process. They will be enlightened by stakeholders on their weaknesses and guided on their roles if they are to benefit from CBF. With the full participation of the orphans in the process, then CBC may be more effective in ensuring that they access and are retained in secondary schools.

The study focused on secondary schools in Eldoret West Sub-County, Uasin Gishu County in Kenya. The study involved the CBF committee, the school principals and the orphans in secondary schools in Eldoret West Sub-County. The study focused on the methods used by CBF in identifying needy orphans, the funding and the retention rates of needy orphans in secondary schools. The study was done in 2008/2009 and covered the orphans enrolled between 2006 and 2009 in the Sub-County.

Questionnaires were used in collecting the primary data. This yielded self-report data which made it difficult to establish the accuracy and veracity of that information. This was mitigated by the use of documentary analysis in the school and CBF offices.

The data collection was cross-sectional. The support data collected for the 4 years may not have withstood the test of the time. To mitigate on this content analysis was used.

Identification of orphans was not assured. In the African family context, an orphan is a sensitive issue and hence some of the students were not captured in the records as orphans. To mitigate this, the respondents were asked not to indicate their names on the questionnaires.

The assumptions of the study included:-

The respondents were willing to provide the relevant information for the research.

All the records on enrolled orphans were available in secondary schools.

The theoretical framework adopted for this study was derived from the systems theory of organizations developed by Ludwing Von Bertalanffy in the early 1950s. It emerged as part of the intellectual ferment following World War II although its roots are much older.

It first originated in biology in the 1920s out of the need to explain the interrelatedness of organisms in ecosystems. The systems theory is an alternative to the classical and neo-classical organizations themes which the researcher felt cannot be sufficient because of their emphasis on organizations as fragmented and closed social units independent of external forces (Backer, 1973).

The systems theory postulates that institutions are like other open systems which of necessity in various modes of exchange with the environment (Katz & Kahn, 1966). The theory emphasizes the consideration of the relationships between the institution and its environment as well as what goes on within the institution (Hall, 1977). The systems theory is basically concerned with the problems of relationships of structures and of independence, rather than with the constraint attributes of objects (Katz & Kahn, 1966). The fundamental concept in the general systems theory is the notion of emergence and interaction.

The only meaningful way to study an organization (including institutions such as CBF) is to regard it as a system. The CBF committee charged with the processing of SEBF, should be managed more like an organization where its programmes are made to realize the importance each stakeholder makes to the whole, and the necessity of eliminating the barriers that make negative contributions.

As adopted in this theory, the systems theory holds that management actions influence the internal efficiency of an institution. The proper representation of stakeholders in the management of CBF, the targeting of the vulnerable including orphans, the allocation of bursaries and the leadership styles in the CBF committee influences the access, retention and completion rates of the orphans in a school.

In the application of the systems theory to this study in the management action and effectiveness, the variables were identified as:

Management actions; are the CBF committees able to satisfactorily identify the needy cases (orphans), allocate funds fairly and as per the criteria, send the funds to secondary schools at an appropriate time, advice the MOE appropriately especially when funds are inadequate e.t.c.

Effectiveness is the ability of CBF committee to keep or reduce to as low as possible the dropout rate, increase completion rates and ensuring that the orphans access education like other students from wealthier households. It is the ability of CBF committee to ensure that vulnerable students complete a particular educational cycle in the possible minimum time.

However, in adopting the systems theory of organization for this study, the researcher took cognizance of its shortcomings. The inter-relationship among parts of a system has to be recognized and understood by “all” involved. This theory also requires a shared vision so that all the relevant stakeholders have an idea of what they are trying to accomplish. It requires a cohesive effort from all participants, a task that is not easy to achieve especially where “all” is involved.

The overall conceptual framework for this study was a synthesized form of the systems theory of organization. The study conceives the effectiveness of CBC has the dependent variable and is operationalised in terms of access, participation, retention, drop outs and completion rates.

With regard to independent variables, the effectiveness of CBC is dependant on targeting process of needy orphans, adequacy in funding, fair allocation of funds and as per the stipulated MOE criteria and the time the funds are send to schools. These variables are critical in ensuring that needy orphans are assisted adequately. This information is summarized in the figure 1.1.

Independent variable Targeting process Adequacy of funds Timeliness. Implementation of MOE stipulate ed guidelines Dependent variable Access Participation Retention Possible outcomes Successful completion of school or Drop-out from school by a needy orphan EFFECTIVENESS

Source: Derived for this Study, 2009

The conceptual framework shows that the effectiveness of CBC in enhancing access, participation and retention rates of needy orphans in secondary schools is dependent on the operations of the CBC as far as the independent variables are concerned. The possible outcome of this is either a needy orphan completes or drops out of school.

The commonly encountered terms and phases in the study are defined:

Orphan

This refers to a child below the age of 18 years who has lost one or both parents through death. (Skinner, 2006). Such a child is assumed to be unable to pay fees and other levies to enable them access and participate in education, though they have a right to education. A total orphan refers to the student who has lost both parents.

Constituency Bursary Committee (CBC)

This refers to a team of people who are in charge of constituency bursary fund at the constituency level. The members are a representative of the stakeholders in the constituency such as the local leadership, the school principals, and the churches, NGO’s, trade unions and MOE officers. The CBF committee members are 15 in number.

Effectiveness

This refers to the ability of an individual or institution to produce the result that was intended given an assigned activity with a definite objective. For example, CBF is expected to achieve access and retention for the needy orphans.

Targeting Process

This refers to the method used in identifying and selecting the needy orphans in secondary schools. This assists the CBF in effectively allocating funds to the deserving cases. This process demands that all the stakeholders must participate honestly.

Constituency Bursary Fund (CBF)

This refers to money allocated to every constituency every financial year for the sake of assisting children who are needy, to access and be retained in schools. This money is managed by the Constituency Bursary Committee (CBC). This money is also referred to as the Secondary Education Bursary Funds (SEBF).

Financing

This refers to the process of providing funds to the needy orphans in secondary schools to enable them pay their fees. This is done by the Government of Kenya through the Ministry of Education and the implementation is done by Constituency Bursary Committee at the constituency level.

This chapter deals with the review of related literature. It focuses on the sources of materials reviewed, highlights the previous/related studies, a critical review of major issues concerning targeting process and funding of needy orphans in secondary education and identifies the existing gap which the study bridged.

Targeting is a tool that is meant to concentrate the benefit of transfer programmes to the poorest sequence of the population. All targeting mechanisms aid at correctly identifying which households or individuals are poor and which are not (Manason and Cuence, 2007).

There are four categories of targeting:-

Proxy- means testing

This generates a score for an applicant individual or household based on a small number of easily observable characteristics such as quality housing, assets, education of household members or the demographic structure of the household.

Means testing

It assesses the eligibility of an individual or household to access the programme by directly examining income. This can be carried out through verification of data through third party sources (wage information, taxes) or through documentation provided by the potential beneficiary.

Targeting by communities

In this case, a community leader or a group of community members decide who in the community should receive benefits. This method takes advantage of local knowledge about the circumstances of beneficiaries, and allows local definition of needs and welfare. In general, community inputs is used to fine-tune targeting as a mechanism to identify specific categories of beneficiaries such as school committees identifying eligible children or as a means of carrying out proxy-means testing.

Self – targeting

This is a program open to all, but their design encourages only those who are the poorest to take advantages of the transfer. Low wages, a requirement to queue and inferior quality of in- kind transfers are elements that discourage the non-poor to participate. It is often used in combination with a number of other targeting mechanisms.

Targeting approaches can be well designed successfully but targeting fails because it is poorly implemented. When targeting approaches are inappropriate or poorly conceived, targeting is likely to fail, no matter how thorough the implementation is. The most common targeting choices that low income countries face are constrained by both financial and technical capacity, resources for social transfer programmes are limited and compete with other public expenditure requirements. Targeting effectiveness is a measure of how far targeting approaches and mechanisms succeed in making social transfers to intended beneficiaries. (World Development Report, 2009). This is one of the main objectives of this study.

Policy makers have good access to evidence on what targeting approaches have worked well elsewhere and under what conditions. In addition, adequate data on the nature and distribution of poverty and the vulnerable children are rarely available. Unsurprisingly, therefore, targeting is always an imperfect process and errors occur in both the design process and during implementation whatever the approach. During implementation, there is a possibility that people who should not be in the programme are included and people who should be in the programme are excluded (Rachel et al, 2009).

Galasso and Ravallion (2003) noted that:-

Across all programs for which we could obtain information on targeting performance, we find that the median programme provides approximately 25% more resources to the poor than would random allocation. The best programs were able to concentrate a high level of resources on poor individuals and households. Argentina’s Trabajar public works program, the best program in this regard, was able to transfer 80% of the program benefits to the poorest quintile.

In Mexico, targeting combines geographical, poverty and social criteria. Small rural communities are identified on the basis of marginality namely limited access to/utilization of education and health infrastructure. Given the conditions, targeting is also categorical; it focuses on families with children aged 7-14 years. A contribution of community based and proxy-means of testing mechanisms are then used; the poorest households are identified based on socio- economic data from census gathering and then community feedback mechanism is used to re-classify households (Graham, 2003).

In Brazil a targeting program known as Bolsa familia is used. The program has numerous objectives; it aims both to reduce hunger, poverty and inequality through a cash transfer conditional on guaranteed access to education, health and nutrition services; and to reduce social exclusion by facilitating the empowerment of poor and vulnerable households. This is a highly institutionalized targeting system compared to poorer countries: targeting policy is defined at the federal level; monitoring and implementation at the state and municipal level including verification of conditionality. Beneficiary identification takes place through means testing by municipal social workers who complete federal forms (Sharp et al, 2006).

Generally, across Latin America, conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme are the most prevalent source of support for the poor and vulnerable households. The conditions are generally related to ‘desired’ social behaviour. The key factor marking CCTs politically acceptable are the condition, commonly requiring school-age children to enroll in schools and achieve a minimum attendance level, or women attendance at post-natal clinics. These conditions have implications for targeting such that CCT programmes such as Progress in Mexico, Bolsa Familia in Brazil and Red Solidario in El Salvador primarily targeting households with infants or children of school-age which are also means-tested. In these cases, the targeting approach is social categorical, but means-testing or proxy-means testing is generally used as the mechanism to reach people (Graham, 2003).

Bangladesh provides evidence of a strong targeting methodology: using communities to identify the neediest beneficiaries in the lowest wealth quintile. However, targeting by communities in Bangladesh creates significant leakages with many non-eligible children benefiting from vouchers and cash for education and communities siphoning off funds. But all the same, in general Bangladesh does reach the poorest households (Lewin et al, 2007).

Despite the successes noted in several countries as far as targeting process is concerned, there are some inherent exclusion errors in targeting criteria to be addressed. Community targeting in Cambodia appears to be successful, despite considerable freedom to interpret selection criteria; 70% of beneficiaries are from the most eligible groups.

India uses the Below Poverty Line method of identifying the poor and vulnerable children. But this method is criticized for using the same indicators for widely different circumstances, and being open to manipulation due to political affiliation, nepotism and corruption. Therefore its relevance as an effective targeting mechanism for poverty reduction programmes is questioned (Bray, 2002).

In China, means testing method is used to identify the vulnerable which has proved challenging due to inadequate data checking or reviewing. In China, inadequate resources have led to many local governments to adjust the poverty line, resulting in poor targeting outcomes; only 20 – 25% of the urban poor are reached. Significant undercover age is noted in Colombia where only half of the eligible households received grants because the vulnerable were not registered in the system. Statistics regarding El Salvador indicate effective identification of beneficiaries, although there appears to be lack of transparency in the proxy-means testing. In Mexico, geographical targeting with schools and health centre’s, excluded the communities’ vulnerable groups without these facilities. Since extremely poor households do not send their children to school, all programmes that target households through education automatically exclude some of the poorest households (Graham,2003).

In Thailand, targeting in two stages has been found to be an effective approach to supporting children affected by HIV/AIDS. The first stage is to geographically target areas where families and communities are having the greatest difficulty protecting and providing for the needs of their children. The second stage is to identify individual families in need. This stage is best carried out by communities themselves, who often know better than outsiders, the local factors that contribute to vulnerability and which individuals are at greatest risk (Sharp et al, 2006).

Targeting seeks to ensure that the resources of social transfer programme are directed only to intended beneficiaries, so as to minimize the coverage of those not intended to be beneficiaries and the non-coverage of intended beneficiaries. It is therefore crucial to the efficient use of scarce resources in social transfer programme. Given concerns about levels of capacity to implement social protection, particularly in low income countries where poverty levels are high, the increased commitment make a particularly good comment to take stock of current knowledge on the targeting of social transfers (McCord, 2009).

In Malawi, the targeting outcomes were unsuccessful due to the lack of sensitization on methodology or criteria. Community response to differentiating between vulnerable groups and non-poor played a role as did favoritism of family or friends and the lack of correlation between selection criteria and poverty levels (Sharma, 2005)

In South Africa, targeting has been more successful; beneficiaries are from the lower socio-economic segments of the population with human education and literacy levels. The Department of Education, keeps the record of the orphans and the vulnerable children. However, the identification, support and monitoring of increasing numbers of orphans in secondary schools in South Africa, requires a concerted effort on the part of the department of education and other relevant stakeholders including foreign development partners (Cecilia, 2012).

In Zambia, there is a concern about the elite capture and nepotism, although other relations suggest that beneficiaries matched entry requirement and nepotism was limited. One evaluation found out that community based targeting was highly effective in some areas in Zambia and no better than random selection in others (Watts, 2007).

In Uganda targeting of the vulnerable groups has been decentralized to the local government in sub-counties. The officers in charge facilitate the targeting of vulnerable children using the OVC management information System (OVC-MIS) as a guide and also based on community criteria for prioritization of most vulnerable children that need support. The local councils participate actually in the community consensus building exercises to identify OVC and then households. However, the absence of accurate information and reporting has been a serious impediment to planning, monitoring and evaluation of the national OVC response (Government of Uganda, 2010).

The Food Subsidy Programme implemented in Mozambique used means testing method of targeting in identifying particularly the vulnerable households by targeting children, pregnant women, disabled people and the chronically ill. The targeting process was characterized by multiple, stringent eligibility criteria, potentially in reaction to the previous closure of the programme due to corruption. Limited capacity and financial constraints also necessitated a highly targeted approach to avoid creating demands that could not be satisfied. (Rachel and Farrington, 2009).

Given the multiple factors within the social context where children become orphaned or vulnerable, definitions require flexibility so that they can be both context dependent and context specific. The broad categories of material, emotional and social challenges added on the child’s social status on an orphan improves the understanding of the vulnerability of this group of children and can define the targeting process within efforts to provide assistance. There is a growing consensus to move away from a too narrow targeting of OVC interventions both because not all orphans are vulnerable and because targeting orphans specifically risks identifying and consequently stigmatizing children with this social status and consequently lead to discrimination in both educational and community setting (Skinner, 2006)

In Kenya the main methods used in the targeting of the needy orphans are community-based and proxy-means testing. Regardless of the targeting method used, most safety nets in Kenya involve communities in the targeting process which has significantly increased the likelihood that the right people are selected for the programme. A number of programmes have established community-based committees to help to manage the programme on the ground (GOK, 2012). The CBF mandates members of the community, through a committee of officials to select recipients of the fund. The rationale for this arrangement is that, members of the community know best and those in their midst deserve financial support. The fund is administered under the guidelines of the MOE. These guidelines specify application procedures, evaluation criteria and allocation ceilings. In addition the ministry has provided further guidelines as to the minimum amounts to be awarded to applicants from the various categories of secondary schools (MOE, 2007).

The CBC is charged with the responsibility of issuing and receiving bursary application form, a FORM A, as well as vetting and considering bursary applicants using the established criteria in FORM D. In form A, the applicant provides information on the amount of money required for fees and information on their family’s socio-economic status. This form provides for the verification of the information by the chief/pastor and the principal. The applicants rating form (Form D) gives the guidelines on how to rate a bursary applicant based on the information provided in the application form (Form A). As provided for in the evaluation criteria , applicants who are classified as either total orphan needy or partial orphan needy or with both parents but needy are given preference in that order. (Form A and D are attached as appendix V and Vi respectively). These forms are aimed at reducing subjectivity in the identification of needy students and their evaluation and subsequent allocation of bursaries. The current process of targeting and identifying of beneficiaries involves: awareness creation on the school regarding the application process, evaluation and award process, and communication of results (GOK, 2003).

Widespread ineffectiveness in the beneficiary’s selection has been reported at the local level (MOE, 2006, Ministry of planning and National Development, 2004).According to the World Bank Report (2007), the new method of channeling funds through CBF is challenged on the effectiveness of targeting process in order to identify the needy students and /or households. There have been numerous complaints on the ability of the Constituency Bursary Committee (CBC) to effectively target the intended beneficiaries. During the KSSHA National conference in Nairobi (Daily Nation, July 2003), the chairman Peterson Muthathai, commending on this new system of awarding bursaries noted.

While we appreciate the government’s intention to involve more people in selecting students who get bursaries, CBC may not give the best results. Even with clear selection guidelines, political, regional and even religious pressures will come to bear on the committees, leading to a situation where the undeserving will end up getting bursaries, while the needy ones are left out”.

From the fore going, it is possible that there are pupils in primary who are financially challenged and who do not attempt to report to the school they are admitted to (Form 1) due to information asymmetry, and lack of money for transport and personal effects. Most of these groups who are unable to join secondary schools could be the vulnerable groups such as orphans and girls. It has also been noted that, even where the criteria for selection is highly designed, it is possible too to experience inefficiency in the implementation of the targeting mechanisms (Samson, et al, 2006; and Coady, et al, 2004). It is also noticeable that the policy decision did not affect the way the CBC transacts its business and may, therefore, be compromised on the competing and objectivity of the CBF.

There have been debate on whether targeting is worthwhile since it can be divisive among community members ,highly complex in implementation, least applicable in a context of limited administrative capacity and unjustifiable in the presence of mass poverty of the population(Hanlon et al, 2010). However, the general consensus is that better targeting can increase the cost-effectiveness of a program by channeling more benefit towards the poor within a fixed program budget (coady et al, 2010).This calls for research to get more insight into the effectiveness of CBF in targeting the orphans and the vulnerable children for proper allocation of bursary funds to the deserving needy cases.

The success of the implementation of various interventions for the OVCs is dependent on the effectiveness of the targeting process because of limited funding available to programmes. With regard to efforts to address, mitigate and resolve children’s vulnerability and the barriers to participating in education that arise from this, a large range of interventions have been documented (Subbarao, 2006).

During the implementation of interventions, priority should be given to the most vulnerable households, rather than targeting the children alone. Singling out orphans runs the risk of perpetuating and exposing them to further stigma and discrimination. The focus of education interventions should ensure access to education and retention of all orphans and vulnerable children in school improve the relevance and quality of education and protect and care for orphans and vulnerable children in school and ensure their integration with other students (UNICEF, 2009)

Despite many challenges faced by various countries in the world, several interventions are being implemented with mixed levels of success.

In 2004, various international organizations established a global strategic framework to guide the OVC responses. The framework outlined five strategies to structure the country’ responses for children affected by HIV/AIDs and formed a basis for the National Action Plan. The strategies included the following: strengthening family capacity, increasing access to services, creating awareness of the needy for a supportive environment for children, mobilizing community-based response and government actions (UNICEF, 2004).

Interventions for OVC comprise provision of shelter, economic support, ensuring access to health care and education and nutrition improvement. Tracing is the first step in protecting vulnerable children and generally is a one-time investment in the developed countries (Deininger, 2003).

Effective targeting in Brazil has contributed to a significant reduction in Gini index. Overall the programme was responsible for a 12% reduction in poverty, and although there is no significant effect on household consumption, there is increased expenditure on food and education (Vawda, 1997).

In India, the implementation of the intervention programmes exhibited high inclusion and exclusion errors. Access to the scheme can be determined by social status, nepotism, religion and politics, and discrimination due to caste, age and gender, is evident. However, in some parts of India, where the local administration is exceptionally strong, the targeting and implementation of the interventions for the poor is quite effective (Sharp et al , 2006).

The experience in Indonesia showed that the intervention succeeded in improving access to the most vulnerable to social services especially education and health. However, the complex design and less specific targets for the nutritional component reduced its impact to the OVC. Welfare outcomes were also positive in Jamaica both for education and health components (Ahmed , 2007).

In Nicaragua the effectiveness of implementation of intervention for the OVCs led to increased school enrolments, reduced child labour, and has been associated with a rise in immunization rates and improvement in nutrition. Bangladesh made significant contribution to reducing malnourishment, and benefits to participating poor families have been assessed to five times the original investment by developing partners (Lewin and Calloids , 2007).

The programmes in Chile and Uruguay are effective in reaching their targeting populations, due to robust mechanisms. Some concerns arise regarding the transparency of the targeting process, and confusion amongst non-beneficiaries results. While China’s interventions programme for the poor has been found to play an important role as a last safety net for alleviating urban poverty but low coverage, limits its impact on welfare (Sharma, 2005).

Argentina’s disjointed pension system and lack of transparency result in errors of inclusion and promote inequality. However despite the lack of vigorous enforcement of criteria pensions appear to target the needy, and have used the incidence of poverty in extremely poor household to 67 % ( Patrick, 2010).

Finally, the complex influences of orphanhood and/or vulnerability on childhood well-being and development are not yet completely understood nor is there one agreed upon conceptual model of the main pathways, thus complicating effectiveness in the evaluation. The evidence regarding differential impacts of poverty on orphans, compared to non-orphans, is conflicting and complicates any conceptual framework to design and evaluate effectiveness of intervention (Watts et al, 2007).

Responses to children orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS have been developing for almost two decades. Defining what type of children these interventions target has been an evolving challenge. To be conceptually useful, sub-categories of vulnerable children needed to be identified and specifically traced in order to understand how vulnerability arises and is perpetuated in the lived experience of a child. Interventions need to be designed to target households which are poor, and children who are vulnerable, so that policy is non-stigmatizing and fair to the poor children and households (Boler and Caroll, 2003).

In South Africa and Swaziland, one of the most complicated challenges is how to support the growing number of orphans and vulnerable children. In particular; there have been many individuals and institutional efforts to assist OVCS through schools and other educational services and institutions. For instance, in South Africa, state grants provide a crucial social safety net for orphans, particularly the old age pension and the Child Support Grant. But there has been little research into the actual impact of most of these interventions because they have not been adequately documented or evaluated rigorously enough to ascertain their impact on the targeted children. Given the increasing number of OVCs across the region, any intervention is quickly overwhelmed and then faced with the dilemma of how to continue providing support for as long as it is needed (Masiela Trust Fund, 2007).

In Lesotho, there are many volunteers such as LGGA supporting orphans and vulnerable children. LGGA has had many successes in its educational based interventions to assist OVCs. Many children have been able to proceed through primary school to high schools and even as far as tertiary education. But despite its achievement, LGGA faces a significant challenge in funding for it’s interventions to assist OVCs (Nyabanyaba, 2009).

Despite a strong community involvement in Ethiopia, communities are largely implementing others’ decisions, rather than being empowered to identify beneficiaries themselves. The goals of transparency and accountability also underachieved due to inadequate appeal processes. However, the stipulation of at least one woman in each task force at every level had a positive gender impact. There was evidence of exclusion errors, as beneficiaries account for 17% of the total Wareda sub tribes’ population, whereas food insecure populations are reportedly much higher (Sharp et al, 2006).

In Zimbabwe, targeting has been assessed to be imperfect, and proxy-means testing has largely been sidelined for demographic targeting. There is evidence of community resistance to providing benefits only to some sections of the population and evaluations recommend more community verification and self-targeting to improve targeting performance (Manduvi and Lewin, 2001).

In Mozambique, welfare outcomes are minimal despite improved targeting performance due to the limited geographical scope and low value of the transfer - 5% of the minimum wage. Strict transparent targeting criteria have covered the support of the community for the programme and the small amounts of the transfer limits dependency and reduces any possible jealousy from non- beneficiaries (Sharma et al,2005).

In Malawi, community-managed programmes were established. For instance, food transfers to households caring for orphans was undertaken and proved successful. Such programmes were quite important in upholding education levels of orphans, since it is exactly during crisis times that children are taken out of school and placed in the labour market to augment family income. However, the most challenging link in reaching out to orphans is ascertaining that resources received by the household actually reach the orphans (Gillespie, 2006).

In Uganda, the Local Government Councils (at higher and lower levels) prioritize concerns, allocate resources and monitor implementation of the interventions. The greatest support was mainly in education (70%) whereby bursaries and scholastic materials are provided for the OVCs, mainly done by NGO’s. Despite the existence of policies, legislations and institutional frameworks, the overall institutional capacity for co-ordination and implementation of the national OVC interventions is still weak. At lower local government levels, there is an absence of coordination structure and where they exist, they are dysfunctional. Local governments also lack sufficient staff and other resources to ensure coordinated OVC responses and to monitor quality care and support services (Government of Uganda, 2010).

In Nigeria, the government involves the concerned leaders, child welfare organizations, support groups of persons living with HIV and the faith-based organizations for effective implementation of interventions to the OVCs. Despite the availability of opportunities for education through universal basic education due to poverty, high school levies, caring for sick parents, lack of education materials, cultural and traditional practices and lack of/ low political commitments to OVC educational issues (Government of Nigeria, 2007).

The need for social transfers in the poorest countries is acute. Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa in particular are characterized by high poverty headcounts and large poverty gaps, but governments have limited funds to pay for social transfers. Donors and NGOs remain reluctant to support long-term recurrent budget items so their funding of social transfers rarely extends beyond 5 years. It therefore follows that, apart from current support needy orphans were getting, other stakeholders in the broader social environment should all get involved in finding long term sustainable solutions to the needs of the OVCS. (Cecilia, 2012).

Interventions of OVCs appear to have had an impact on secondary school enrolment in older children, with an increase six to seven percentage points larger than in the control areas. It is possible that secondary school attendance is more often limited by cash, since fees are substantial, and the payments help families meet their costs (Patrick et al, 2010).

In Kenya, the main strategies outlined within the national OVC action plan are to strengthen the capacity of families to protect and care for OVCs; provide economic, psychosocial and other forms of social support; mobilize and support community-based responses; and increase OVC access to essential services including food and nutrition, education, health care, water and sanitation and housing shelter. Although the National Council for Children Services (NCCS) has the overall responsibility of coordinating children’s issues in the country, it does not have the capacity to respond effectively to OVC issues. It is limited by lack of clear policies and resources (Kenya Ministry of Health, 2005).

Fees and hidden costs of schooling are often the greatest contributors to school abandonment by OVCs. Interventions to reduce school abandonment among OVC include payment of fees or financial assistance for school supplies (Stover et al, 2007). In Kenya, SEBF is the main intervention for the needy orphans and vulnerable children to access secondary education.

The MOE provided guidelines to streamline the disbursement of bursaries at the constituency level (GOK, 2003). This followed the government policy of decentralization and empowerment of committees which decided that from 2003/2004 financial year, the funds would be administered at the constituency and Sub-County levels. Since then, all secondary education bursary funds were being sent to constituency bursary committees. The philosophy of SEBF was to translate into reality that no child who qualifies for secondary education should be denied access due to the inability to pay school fees (KIPPRA, 2003).

There are concerns that have been raised that students from poor families are unable to access secondary schools even after showing good performance in KCPE ( Odebero et al, 2007). This is despite the availability of government bursary scheme. Another study by Njeru and Orodho(2003) on the bursary scheme, found out that although there were students who benefited from bursaries, this had no significant impact on enrolment and retention of the poor. They concluded that because the scheme targeted students already enrolled in secondary school, it missed students who failed to raise the initial school fees, so the scheme ignored students who had not already been able to gain access, despite their academic eligibility.

Further findings reveal that the level of funding is also not adequate to the school fees requirements. An estimated 83% of the bursary beneficiaries got Ksh. 5000 or less as bursary. This is way below the government approved fees for day schools , boarding provincial secondary schools and national schools which is Ksh. 10000, Ksh.22,900 and Ksh.28,900 respectively .This makes students from poor families especially orphans to drop out of school; a situation that warrants research (Oyugi, 2010).

A lot of government effort has gone into attempts to improve implementation, management and performance of the fund. To improve the efficiency of the fund, the government has developed and circulated relevant guidelines in the form of circulars. Between 2003 and 2010, five such circulars had been issued by the MOE. However, these efforts are yet, to yield the desired results in terms of improved efficiency in the performance and equity in implementation of the fund (MOE, 2012).

Following persistent complaints of the inadequate allocation to a beneficiary, the ministry issued guidelines for minimum allocation to a beneficiary. To avoid token bursary awards which may not adequately sustain retention and completion, the minimum allocation to beneficiaries in National, Provincial and District Schools were set at Kshs. 15,000, Kshs. 10,000 and Kshs. 5000 respectively (GOK, 2006 a). However, the criterion for allocation of the funds was not strictly adhered to (Ministry of Planning and National Development, 2004).

Similarly, the members of parliament influence the composition of the committees by nominating their supporters contrary to the guidelines given by the Ministry of Education (Daily Nation, 2003). This was interfering with the targeting process and the allocation of funds to the needy students.

The SEBF in Kenya is expected to address the income inequalities in society and moreover preferential policies for the needy students. However, the persistent low participation rate indicates that either the policy initiative had minimal impact on enhancing access or the partial bursary allocation had minimal impact particularly on ensuring the beneficiaries are adequately supported for a full secondary school cycle (KIPPRA, 2007). Furthermore, because safety net programmes currently have a range of different objectives and there is generally limited information on their effectiveness, it is difficult to determine the exact form that safety nets should take in Kenya (GOK, 2012).From the foregoing, there is need to further research on the effectiveness of CBF on access and retention of the vulnerable children especially orphans.

Psychropoulous and Woodhall (1985) noted that the World Bank Strategy on educational investment support was generally towards providing education to all the children. It recommended that, for increased productivity and promotion of social equity, educational opportunities should be provided without distinction of sex, ethnic background or social and economic status. Similarly, Vandyke (2001) pointed out that, for parents, sending a child to school had become relatively costly.

This explains why countries worldwide have adopted various strategies to reduce unit costs and finance secondary education with the aim of improving access, participation and retention in education to all the children. The following case studies provide a valuable insight on these strategies.

Experiences from different countries outside Africa, shows that, a lot of policy reforms have been initiated in secondary education system, to allow sustainable and affordable expansion so as to improve access and participation in basic education (KIPPRA, 2006).

In most OECD countries demand side financing mechanisms such as vouchers, stipends and capitation grants are frequently employed. These mechanisms are used to help the poor families invest in schooling. This is accomplished by reducing official tuition charges (World Bank, 2003).

Sri-Lanka has a policy of free education from grades 1 to 13. The central government provides the bulk of all funding, though small facility fees are charged per month but on a discretionary basis. Textbooks at secondary level are subsidized, free uniforms are provided and there are noon-time meals provided to students. (Assie-Lumumba, 2005).Despite these measures put in place in Sri-Lanka, some of the programmes do not take place in all the schools, as the fees are very discretionary (Lewin and Mallawarachi, 2007).

In Costa Rica, secondary education is provided to all the citizens as stipulated in the country’s constitution though not compulsory. The bulk of the education is provided through public funds and education sector allocation of around 6% of GDP every year. However, there are high direct costs from uniforms, text books, stationary, contributions for teachers’ supplies and transport. This represents almost 44% of an average monthly income for one student. This has contributed to low participation levels in secondary education by citizens of Costa Rica. (KIPPRA, 2007).

Another method of financing education, employed by the United States of America, is the use of the Human capital contract. This financing option enables students to commit part of their future earnings for a fixed period of time in exchange for capital for financing education. Through this approach the vulnerable groups have been able to access education (World Bank, 2003).

In Sweden, the management and governance of the education system was decentralized, allowing secondary schools to become autonomous and only made context- specific decisions regarding programs, curricular and financing. The independent schools are responsible for their own activities, but there costs are covered by municipalities or by the state (OECD, 1998).

Generally in Europe, the role of the private sector as provider, manager and financier was enhanced and pro-actively encouraged, by governments. For instance in Netherlands, 78% of the schools are private but publicly funded. Most private schools received public or contributions from business, especially for technical and vocational programs. This enabled all the children and specifically the vulnerable groups access education in private institutions. (Ngware et al, 2006).

In Thailand, secondary education was re-conceptualized as basic education, leading to expansion of existing compulsory education from 6 to 9 years, to make the system less restrictive and also promote access. The highly competitive admission policy of the exclusive secondary school was revised so that there were opportunities for students from different backgrounds to enroll. In addition, tuition fees, which hindered access was gradually abolished starting with the extended primary schools and rural secondary schools (SEIA, 2007).

Korea has managed to mobilize resources from both public and private resources. The central government education budget is about 20% of the total budget (Gray, 2002). The private sector is provided with incentives by the Government such as tax exemption to promote their participation in education thus because of the subsidy and measure of equalization, there has not been any significant difference between private and public schools. The Korean government has been keen to ensure equal opportunity for all because of the government egalitarian ideas. Secondary entrance exam was abolished and replaced by a lottery system based on residence, which virtually eliminated elite secondary schools (KIPPRA, 2007). Traditional loans are also offered to students; however, it requires collateral security which most of the poor students do not have and hence benefits the wealthier in the society only (Kosimbei et al, 2006).

Many studies carried out in developing countries reflect a common trend in the financing of their education systems and the rising costs of education at all levels (Karani et al, 1995).

As the countries strive towards the achievement of UPE, the demand for secondary education has been increasing. This has forced countries to carry out reforms in the secondary education system so as to improve transition from primary to secondary schools, access, participation and retention of all secondary school going children (Muthaka et al, 2007).

In Zimbabwe there is a policy of automatic progression from grade 1 to form 4. The government policy is that no child should be denied access to secondary education as long as he/she can afford fees. The government has been the main provider of secondary education throughout the country. It provides grants to all registered schools both governments as well as non-government schools. Despite the heavy government funding, attention throughout secondary especially among the poor and girls, remains a problem due to the high fees charged (Manduvi and Lewin, 2001).

In Burkina Faso, tuition is free for those who pass the entrance examination to secondary level. Where the government could not sustain the current costs of significant expansion in secondary school enrolment, partnerships are being nurtured with the private sector, through distance learning and provision of good quality secondary education (Onsumu et al, 2001). However, every student is expected to contribute towards the school parents association to enable it buy materials or pay salaries for temporary teachers. On the other hand, the students who did not pass the entrance exam pay tuition fees though with some government support. This limits the access of children especially the vulnerable, in secondary schools (KIPPRA, 2007).

Cote D’Ivoire spends nearly 30% of its government budget on secondary education because of the relatively high educational unit costs. There are no fees charged in all public schools. The government has encouraged partnerships with the private sector, for instance pupils who passed the entrance exams but failed to be accommodated in public schools; the government secures places for them in private schools and pays for their fees. However, students pay for text books, uniforms and transportation. Therefore, the strategies put in place in Cote D’Ivoire may not be giving equal opportunities to all the children to access education (Caillods, 2001).

Apart from the government funding in Madagascar, the government subsidizes some private schools numbering about 2/3 of those registered. This led to a well developed private sector in Madagascar which enrolls nearly ½ of the students at the upper secondary level because of the incapacity of the government to offer sufficient places in state schools. This has led to a significant increase in access and participation in the country (SEIA, 2007).

In Malawi, the school fees are heavily subsidized in government schools estimated at between 5 – 15% of the actual costs, with other costs borne publicly. The fee charged is acting as a barrier to access to secondary education by the vulnerable groups. Most of the schools in Malawi are boarding schools, which increases education costs and makes secondary education a bit expensive (Tan and Mingat, 1998).

The concern for equity, access and social class bias has been and continues to be a strong motivating factor underlying governments’ intervention in educational sector. The Kenya government has demonstrated its commitments to addressing these issues through various policy documents such as the Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005. The principal objective of these government policy documents has been to provide an effective and efficient education system that serves well the wider interests of society (Boit, 1998).

Government responsibility	Responsibilities for government partners
1. Provision of grants for specialized equipment (for science and practical subjects) in marginalized secondary schools.	1. Provision and maintenance of facility equipment and instructional materials in public and private schools.
2. Professional support, curriculum development, teacher education, inspections and public examinations.	2. Fees for public examinations
3. Administration and management, and bursary and scholarship for needy students.	3. Catering and accommodation in boarding schools and post-school institutions
4. Teacher remuneration in public institution	4. School amenities (transport, water, energy, and communication) and students personal expenses.
5. In- service training e.g. strengthening of Maths and Science Subjects (SMASSE).	5. Remuneration of school/college non-teaching staff and temporary teachers.

Source: Government of Kenya, 2005d

In addition to cost-sharing in the financing of public systems, partners, especially NGO’S commitment and the private sector are expected to continue providing education services at all levels including pre- primary education, technical education and informal tertiary education (KIPPRA, 2006). On average, household funding of secondary education takes 60% while government financing constitutes 40% of the aggregate secondary financing (Onsomu et al, 2006), as shown in Table 2.2.

Sub-sector	Public schools	Private schools
	Government (%)	Households (%)	Government (%)	Households (%)
ECDE	5	95	0	100
Primary	80	20	0	100
Secondary	40	60	0	100
TWET	25	75	0	100
University	92	8	0	100

Source: Government of Kenya, 2005d

To a larger extent, the implementation of the cost-sharing policy at secondary school level gives a leeway for schools to charge higher fees compared to the fees guidelines provided by the Ministry of Education. Thus secondary education has continued to increase the cost burden to households despite the levels of public funding.

A bursary scheme was introduced in 1993 with a view to enabling students from poor households gain access to secondary education. In 2003, SEBF was decentralized and channelled through constituencies. The major objective of SEBF is to enhance access to and ensure high quality education for all Kenyans, in particular, the vulnerable groups such as orphans and girls (KIPPRA, 2003). The SEBF allocation has been increasing annually, as shown in Figure 2.1.

Source: KIPPRA, BASELINE SURVEY

Since its establishment, SEBF has had quite a number of challenges. Given that the population of orphaned children enrolled in secondary schools is about 13% of secondary school enrollment. On the other hand, given the relatively high fee levels in secondary schools, especially boarding schools, it is evident that the set minimum bursary award is far below the fees charged, leading to some beneficiaries dropping out (KIPPRA, 2006).

In 2008, Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) was rolled out as stipulated in the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme (KESSP) launched in July, 2005, whereby the government committed herself to ensure that FPE went beyond primary level (Sessional Paper No. 1, 2005). The FDSE was introduced with a target of raising student enrolment to 1.4 million by the end of the year, 2008. In fact, the transition rate from primary to secondary rose to 72% in 2011, up from 47% in 2002. More than 7000 secondary schools are under the government’s free education programme started in 2008. The MOE takes the lion’s share of the budget. For instance, in the financial year 2002/03, the ministry was allocated 64.1 billion shillings with the figure rising astronomically to 193.3 billion shillings in 2011 (GoK, 2011). The government has so far released more than US $ 41 million to pay for the different phases of the programme which has proved to be a success to relieve the poor and marginalized communities from accessing education equally, (KIPPRA, 2007).

Equity means fairness or impartiality. It carries the notion of justice. In the context of educational investment or financing, equity is about how costs and benefits are distributed among different groups in society (Psacharopoulos and Woodhall, 1985; Mcmahon, 1997).

Since equity has a connotation of fairness, naturally the question of what is a fair or equitable distribution arises. It involves equity of opportunity of access and participation of various groups in education. Applied to the distribution of education subsidies, equity implies the distribution of education opportunities equally among members of society without discrimination including enabling the vulnerable groups in society to take advantage of such opportunities (Boit, 1998).

The concern for equity (or equality of opportunity), access and social class bias has been and continues to be a strong motivating factor underlying governments’ intervention in the education sector. The government of Kenya has demonstrated its commitment to addressing these issues through various policy documents aimed at providing an education system that aims at removing social injustices and disputes between regions, sexes, social and economic groups and that equalizes economic opportunities among all citizens.

Inequalities in access to education can be defined in terms of gender, income and locality differences. Income-related inequality focuses on the extent to which the financially disadvantaged groups have opportunities to access various levels of education, succeed in education and make use of the education and training as an asset for enhancing their chances in life, such as in employment. (GOK, 2011).

According to Demery and Gaddis (2009), overall, the lowest income quintile benefits more from primary education, while post-primary education benefits predominantly the high income quintiles as shown in Table 2.4

Level of education	Quintile	Kenya
	Poorest quintile	Quintile 2	Quintile 3	Quintile 4	Richest quintile
Primary	24.7	25.2	21.6	18.2	10.2	100
Secondary	9.5	5.9	21.9	5.5	27.2	100
Tertiary	1.9	2.0	7.0	19.1	70.0	100
All education	17.4	19.3	19.4	20.2	23.7	100

Source: Demery and Gaddis (2009)

In 2005/06 data (Table 2.6), for instance, 17.4% of the low income group benefitted from the overall expenditures on education, compared to 23.7% of the high income group. About 24.7% of the poorest quintile benefited from primary education, 9.5 % from secondary education, and 1.9% from tertiary education. These levels were lower when compared with the benefit incidence for the high income groups which estimated at 27.2% for secondary and 70% for tertiary education (GOK, 2011).

The findings by Demery and Gaddis (2009), showed that higher education is generally accessible to the higher socio-economic groups and that the cost of education is greatest at tertiary education, compared with other levels of education. This means that untargeted education financing might be enforcing the socio-economic advantage of the high income groups, and this might worsen the inequality problems in both higher education and take up of employment opportunities.

Besides, although primary and secondary education (day) are by law free from direct school charges, there are unofficial levies that put financial burdens on the income- poor households. Moreover, financial burdens on the poor, which include school fees and opportunity costs, are increasingly high in secondary and higher education levels. All these work to constrain the poor from accessing education opportunities at the various levels (KIPPRA, 2011).

Access refers to the availability of opportunity to all potential learners, eligible and who meet the set criteria. Participation refers to the actual number of learners who accessed education and got involved in learning for the period expected in any given cycle (GoK, 2007).

Globally, Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) for developed countries is close to 100% while those for developing economies; especially in Africa is lower than 50%. For instance, in 2002/03, the GER for Europe and South America was 100% and in North America, East Asia and Oceania, the GER exceeded 90% (UNESCO, 2005). In those parts of the world, lower secondary school education is universally accessible. Kenya, for instance, recorded a 29.5% GER and 17% NER in 2004 (GOK, 2005). In 2003 and 2004, the transition rate from primary to secondary school level was recorded at 42.6% and 50.6%, respectively. This implies that close to 83% of youth aged 14-17 years have access to secondary education and close to 50% of pupils who complete primary education do not progress to secondary education. This indicates that the efficiency of the schooling system in Kenya is likely to be low due to the high wastage levels (Manda et al, 2006).

However, the transition rates have improved in Kenya, since then. For instance, figure 2.5, shows that the transition rate between Std 8 and form 1 was about 59.6% in 2007 and 66.8% in 2010. The transition is affected to some extent by lack of capacity and low educational attainments among those who completed STD 8, which means that some students have met the minimum requirements to join secondary education (GOK, 2011).

Source: Ministry of education, education management information system (EMS)

The overall secondary GER increased from 38% in 2007 to 47.8% in 2010, while the NER rose from 24.2 % in 2007 to 32% in 2010 (Table 2.6).

Enrolment type	2007	2008	2009	2010
Gross enrolment rate	38.0	42.5	45.3	47.8
Net enrolment rate	24.2	28.9	35.8	32.0

Source: Government of Kenya, (2010)

When compared to other countries, Kenya’s NER at the secondary levels is above the Sub-Saharan Africa averages 29.5%. However, Kenya’s secondary school NER of 32% in 2010 was lower by far, compared to that of Korea (96.4%) and South Africa (71.9 %) (GOK, 2011).

It is evident that although there is considerable progress in primary education participation levels, there is need for enhanced access to post-secondary education. In 2010, for instance, only 15.5% of Kenya’s population aged 25years above had attained at least secondary education. This was relatively low when compared with the levels attained by comparable countries such as South Africa (57.9%) and Botswana (24.7%). (Figure 2.7).

The secondary sub- sector continues to face challenges, particularly low participation rates, unsatisfactory level of transition from primary to Secondary and from secondary to tertiary levels (particularly university), as well as serious gender and regional disparities. The challenge is further compounded by the fact that the number of secondary schools does not match that of primary schools (GOK, 2008). Therefore despite the recent improvements in Kenya, high disparities in access to education at all levels remain a big challenge. In line with this, UNESCO (2005) noted that the focus of education development should look beyond primary education as lack of opportunities at secondary education level is likely to undermine Universal Primary Education (UPE) goals.

Source: Kenya National Bureau of statistics, 2011

The total progressive enrolment (Table 2.8), indicates the high rate of social demand in education. The low Gross enrolment rate and regional and gender disparities in access and participation in secondary school in Kenya can be attributed to the cost-sharing policy in financing secondary education in the country (Njeru and Orodho, 2003). This has resulted in high fees and other related levies in addition to the high poverty rates. These supports a study done by Njeru and Orodho (2003) on the bursary scheme found that, although there were students who benefited from bursaries; this had no significant impact on enrolment and retention of the poor. They concluded that because the scheme targeted students already enrolled in secondary school, it missed students who had failed to raise the initial school fees, so the scheme ignored students who had not already been able to gain access, despite their academic eligibility.

These reports raise critical questions about whether government bursaries reach intended beneficiaries and in so doing expand access for those who are excluded, or whether the government reinforces the exclusion of the poor by awarding bursaries to financially able groups whose children are already in secondary school. Since children from the bottom wealth quintiles have fewer chances to enroll in secondary school than children from the top wealth quintiles, it is important that government bursaries reach the poor. However, a number of complaints were leveled against the manner in which the fund was being administered prior to 2003. These included undeserving students benefiting from the fund, very few beneficiaries being reached, ghost students being awarded bursaries and beneficiaries being awarded insignificant amount.

Drop – out rate refers to the proportion of students enrolled in a given class during an academic year and who leave the school system in the course of the academic year (GOK, MOE report, 2003-2007). It constitutes the percentage of students to total enrolment who exit the system at any given level (GOK, 2011). It is also assumed that transfer into is equal to transfer out of education and /or the effect, if any, is negligible.

According to the findings by KIPPRA (2006), on average, the drop out rate deteriorated from 5.5% in 1999 to 6.6% in 2003. (Table 2.9)

Source: MOE, Statistics Section, GOK, (2005).

During the period 2005 – 2008, Kenya’s dropout rate, on average, was estimated at 16.4% and was relatively higher than that for Korea (1.6%) and lower than the Sub- Saharan Africa with an average of 36.5% (GOK, 2011).

According to Bedi et al, (2004) and Oiro et al, (2003), the drop in enrolment since 1991 has been substantial and can be attributed to many factors including: - Rising costs of education in the wake of introduction of user fees, HIV/AIDS, and increasing urban poverty, which lowered living standards and left many school-going children orphaned and vulnerable, poor growth and a lowering of employment opportunities amidst rising poverty levels.

Although it is not possible to estimate the direct cost associated with dropping out of school, the indicator depicts wastage in the learning process and it leads to lower class sizes and under-utilization of available physical and human resources in learning institutions.

Further, students who drop out before completing the school cycle do not attain the requisite skills of sustainable development. The drop out signifies unfulfilled aim, objective and goal for the individual, community and nation as a whole. For every drop out the country loses potential work force towards the target year, 2020 for national industrialization and vision 2030, (KIPPRA, 2011).

Retention rate refer to the percentage of a cohort of students enrolled in the first grade of a given level or cycle of education in a given school year who are expected to reach successive grades (GOK, 2006a). Grade 1 ( primary level) to Form 4 (Secondary level) retention rate shows the proportion of pupils enrolled in primary grade one who remain in school until they complete secondary level. Retention rate to secondary Form I measures the proportion of a cohort of pupils that services from Primary grade one to first grade in secondary education.

There are declining levels of enrollment as pupils progress from standard 1 to Std 8 and form 1 (Table 2.10)

Source: GOK, 2000a; Economic Survey.

On average, only 19.9% of the students who were enrolled in Std 1 in 1989 survived to Form 1 1997. However, the proportion, surviving from Std 1 to Form 4 is only 19.7% while only 1.2% of the pupils in Std 1 survive to enter University (GOK, 2000 a).

In general, survival rates for boys are higher than for girls. According to the Third Welfare Monitoring Report (GOK, 2006), early marriages, adolescent pregnancies and the opportunity cost of schooling were provided as the main factors contributing to drop out rates.

Repetition rates refer to the proportion of students from a cohort enrolled in a given grade at a given school - year who study in the same grade the following school year (GOK, 2007).Table 2.11; illustrates that on average, the repetition rate in secondary education decreased from 1.6% in 1999 to 1.3% in 2003.

Source: GOK, MOE Education Statistics, 2007.

Repetition rates was highest in Form 4, both in 1999 (3%) and 2003 (4.72%) reflecting the diversity of factors contributing to these. High repetition in Form 4 can be attributed to higher incidence of students willing to repeat final grade in order to improve their academic performance and achieve better grades that could enable them proceed to tertiary education (KIPPRA,2006).

Repetition negates any efficiency gains in the education system and this explains why the Kenya Government has a policy of non- repetition of classes. For example, the government of Kenya through FPE allocates US$ 14.6 per student per year in Kenya, the repetition rates translates into an annual total loss of US$ 7.9 million to cater for over 544,110 repeaters per year (GOK,2007).

An average of about 5.8% of primary school children were observed to have repeated a class between 2005- 2008. Compared to other countries, repetition rates were relatively low for Egypt (3.1%) and Chile (2.4%), but medium human development countries recorded a high of 6.5% despite their level of human resources development (UNDP, 2010).

A report into school retention summarized the position in the following way; compared to young people who complete secondary schooling, those who don’t finish secondary schooling are more likely to experience extended periods of unemployment, obtain low paid and lower skilled jobs, they are more likely to earn less, rely on government assistance and not likely to participate in community life (White, 2003). Kenya incurs a loss whenever students are unable to be retained in any education sector.

Completion rates refers to the ratio of the total number of students successfully completing or graduating from the year of a cycle in a given year to the total number of children of official graduation age in the population.(GOK, 2007).

Completion rates in secondary schools are relatively high, an indication of low dropout and repetition rates (GOK, Economic Survey, 2007).Table 2.12, illustrates the secondary completion rates between 2001 to 2007.

Source: GOK, MOE Education Statistics, 2007

The above data shows that completion rate increased from 89.6% in 2004 to 97.1% in 2005. However; there was a serious decline in 2006 by 10.6% to 87.5% and a marginal increase to 91.8% in 2007.

High completion rates imply efficiency in the system in terms of progression from Form1 to Form4 and, that survival is assured if students manage to enter first grade of secondary education (Manda et al, 2006). However, given the fact that, the completion rate is not yet at 100% implies that there are still a number of students who drop out of school. Non-completion of secondary schooling continues to be a matter of concern for policy makers and practitioners worldwide (Gray et al, 2009). This issue requires further investigation given its implications on education policy targets.

Targeting effectiveness is a measure of how far the targeting approaches and mechanisms succeed in making social transfers to the intended beneficiaries. From the literature review, the general consensus is that better targeting can increase the cost effectiveness of a program by channeling more benefit towards the poor within a fixed program budget. It was noticeable from the literature review, that the policy decision on CBF did not affect the way the CBC transacts its business and may, therefore be compromised on the competing and objectivity of CBF.

During the implementation of interventions, priority should be given to the most vulnerable rather than targeting the children alone. The focus of education interventions should ensure access to education and retention of all orphans. The SEBF in Kenya is expected to address the income inequalities in society and moreover preferential policies for the needy orphans. However, the persistent low participation rate indicates that the policy initiative had minimal impact particularly on ensuring the beneficiaries are adequately supported for a full secondary school cycle.

Education financing in Kenya is based on the cost-sharing policy introduced in 1988. This has given a leeway for schools to charge higher fees compared to the fees guidelines provided by MOE. The government contributes 40% of the finances and the households 60%. Given that the population of orphaned children in secondary schools is about 13% of the enrolment and the relatively high fees levels in secondary schools, especially boarding schools, it is evident that the set minimum bursary award is far below the fees charged, leading to some beneficiaries dropping out.

From the literature review, Kenya’s drop out rate was estimated, on average, at 16.4% and was relatively higher than for the developed countries. This depicts wastage in the learning process and the under-utilization of the available physical and human resources in learning institutions. The drop outs don’t attain the requisite skills of sustainable development and hence loss of potential workforce for the country. On the other hand, the completion rates in Kenya range between 87.5% to 97.1%. Given the fact that, the completion rate is not yet at 100% implies that there are still a number of students who drop out of school.

The above studies underscore the fact that the intention of the researcher was not to replicate these studies but rather, to detect the gaps and fill them in the present study. The related literature reviewed, provided a foundation upon which the present study was built. The researcher hopes that this study has attempted to bridge the existing gap and providing concrete information on the effectiveness of SEBF in financing orphan education in Kenya as far as targeting process, funding and; access and retention of needy orphans is concerned in secondary education.