Influence of government subsidized secondary education on quality of instruction and internal efficiency of public secondary schools in Kitui County, Kenya

Abstract

Secondary education is regarded as the most important stage in the educational cycle of a child because it is the foundation for further education, training and work. The quality of instruction and internal efficiency of institutions providing it should be high if secondary school education is to achieve its objectives. However, the quality of instruction and internal efficiency of public secondary schools in Kitui county has been poor. Literature shows that the implementation of SSE led to increase in students’ enrolment in many schools. This may have negatively affected both quality of instruction and internal efficiency of schools in Kitui county. This study examined the influence of subsidized secondary education on quality of instruction and internal efficiency of public secondary schools in Kitui County Kenya. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. A sample of fifty nine (59) headteachers and two hundred and seventeen (217) teachers selected using purposive, proportionate and simple random sampling techniques participated in the study. Two data collection instruments namely; the headteacher questionnaire (HTQ) and teacher questionnaire (TQ) were used to collect data. The construct and content validity of the two instruments were examined by a team of five (5) experts from the Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Educational Management, Egerton University. The two data collection tools were also piloted for reliability using a sample of 15 teachers in 4 schools which did not take part in the actual study. The reliability coefficients were estimated using the Cronbach Alpha formulae. The reliability coefficients of HTQ and TQ were 0.71 and 0.83 respectively. The collected data was analyzed with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The analyzed data was presented in the form of frequencies, percentages, means standard deviations and t-test. The results of the study indicated that subsidized secondary education (SSE) was fairly implemented in Kitui county, had significant positive influence on the quality of instruction in schools but had no significant influence on the internal efficiency of schools. The findings of the study may be used by school administrators to optimize on use of subsidized secondary education resources to enhance quality of instruction and internal efficiency in their respective schools. The results may also assist the government to evaluate and improve on the implementation and allocation of subsidized secondary programme.