Equity in the distribution of bursary to secondary school students in Busia district, Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to find out the opinion of the head teachers on equity of the established criteria in bursary support for the needy. It was done in the District’s 27 secondary schools with the total student enrolment of 5780. All the 190 students (3.3% of the total enrolment) who had received bursaries from 1999 - 2002 in the district were included in the study. Another saturated sample of 27 head teachers was included in the study. Data was collected using questionnaires, in-depth interview schedules and document analysis. The study used Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients to measure equity in bursary distribution. Findings show that bursary allocations in the district were inequitably distributed for all the years studied. It further reveals that the bursary award criteria were largely not effective in identifying and benefiting the most needy students. It recommended that there is need to review the criteria for the selection of the students with financial need. The study further recommends mounting of workshops and seminars for stakeholders to educate those in charge of disbursements on key items within the disbursement process so as to eliminate ambiguities in the criteria.