Department of Education Foundation/EPM

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    Access to basic education in Kenya: inherent concerns
    (Academic Journals, 2007-10-30) Odebero, Stephen O.; Maiyo, Julius K.; Mualuko, Ndiku J.
    Basic education being the minimum education that every Kenyan must have for progressive existence in society is a crucial factor. That is why Kenya subscribes to the international protocol that established Education for All (EFA) in Jomtien, Thailand 1990 and the world education forum in Dakar, Senegal, 2000. Since then, the Kenya Government in her Education Sector Strategic Plan and Sessional paper No. 1 of 2005 has articulated how to attain goals for education. For instance early childhood education which tries to ensure development of the whole personality of the child’s physical, mental, and socioemotional attributes faces challenges such as lack of access to early childhood education mostly caused by poverty, regional and gender disparities, policy framework, and HIV/AIDS among others. At primary school level where children stay longest in the schooling years and they develop more motor skill, further cognitive skills along with higher socialization than the early childhood education level, has children failing to access education due to poverty, gender imbalances, regional imbalances among other concerns. Secondary education which creates a human resource base higher than the primary education along with training youth for further education and the world of work registers restriction to many children due to concerns of poverty, gender imbalances, insecurity regional disparity among others. This article articulates in detail the above concerns discussing their manifestations in Kenya. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations made on how to improve access to basic education in Kenya. Among the recommendations are: To make basic education free and compulsory, improve provision of health services, intensify fight against demeaning cultures, give special attention to children with disabilities, avail employment opportunities to the youth, assure security to all in conflict prone zones and tighten bursary disbursement procedures.
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    Horrifying disasters in western Kenya impact on education and national development
    (Academic Journals, 2008-05-07) Achoka, Judith S. K.; Maiyo, Julius K.
    The occurrence of natural disasters has shown a positive trend as annual incidents of disaster events have increased on the continent. Approximately two-thirds of the 3.3 million people in Western Kenya fall below the poverty line, leaving the region stuck in poverty traps that prevent sustainable development. Schools in the region are hampered in their operation when the disaster occurs .In third term 2007, many school were unable to open due to flooding, students were transferred to other schools while others dropout of the system. Access to safe water, sanitation, quality education and HIV/AIDS awareness are desperately needed, along with micro-economic development to bring the population up to a livable standard. This study investigates the horrifying disasters in the region and analyzes their impact on education and national development.
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    Students’ reactions to the use of computers in science education in selected Kenyan secondary schools
    (2008-12-01) Wekesa, Wasike Duncan; Wekesa, Eric Wangila; Mualuko, Ndiku Judah; Maiyo, Julius K.
    Different people react differently to the same experience. A current trend in science instruction is to integrate technology into classroom in a variety of ways. A Computer Based Instruction (CBI) courseware was used to teach cell theory that has posed diffi culties for teachers and students as part of the classroom innovation. Students’ attitude towards the innovation and their attitude towards the biology classroom environment were collected through two 5-point bi-polar Likert-scale items and unstructured written interviews. The innovation resulted to better perception of the biology classroom environment and attitudes towards cell theory. Classifi cation of students’ unstructured responses confi rmed the existence of a series of metaphors for technology use in educational settings
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    Poverty alleviation: the educational planning perspective
    (Academic Journals, 2009-06-30) Maiyo, Julius K.; Ashioya, Irene A.
    A well planned education system is expected to respond to the socio-economic needs as well as the political objectives of any country. Education contributes to poverty reduction by increasing the value of efficiency of the labour force and thus enhances economic growth. This economic growth is expected to translate into higher income lowering poverty levels. This is because the more educated an individual is; the more productive he is expected to be both in the labour market and the household. Therefore, more education provision can raise income levels in general and remove groups from absolute poverty. This paper examines the extent to which education in Kenya has been planned to foster economic growth and alleviate poverty. It also looks at the factors hindering the realization of this objective and finally offers recommendations on how education can be systematically planned to elevate society and social systems towards a better and more humane life.
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    The role of guiding and counselling in secondary schools in Kenya: prospects and challenges
    (2009-09-01) Maiyo, Julius K.; Owiye, Joan
    Since the 1990s, education system in Kenya has faced dynamic and rapid changes that have had overwhelming effects both on the child, teacher, school and society at large. Education policies have changed over the years including the recently introduced policy on caning which was scraped through children’s Act of 2001 and replaced with guiding and counseling as a measure to prepare a child for the challenges they face both in school and outside school. As corporal punishment remains banned and children becoming more aware of their rights, guiding and counseling remains the most acceptable channel of reaching the children in schools; the children too being teenagers, they experience a time of storm and stress characterized by mixed reactions of being happy at one moment and extremely sad at another moment. The reactions to such situations are likely to be intense and volatile. With parents being too busy to give children quality time and attention, the responsibility has been left to rest squarely on the shoulder of the teachers to help students make decisions on aspects that affect their lives. This therefore necessitates the need to strengthen guiding and counseling in schools. This paper examines the role of guiding and counseling in secondary schools mainly in shaping the career life of the teenager and the challenges faced by schools in using it as a measure to replace caning in instilling discipline in the students. The research was based and build on scientifi c sources, analytical evaluative studies and scientifi c literature; content analysis of documents and refl ection of experience to examine the role of guiding and counseling in secondary schools. From the fi ndings, a conclusion was drawn that to streamline the role of guiding & counseling and overcome the challenges in shaping the students’ integrated development, every party including the MOE, policy makers, schools, teachers and parents have a role to play in shaping the life of the child.
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    Ranking of secondary schools and students in national examinations: the perception of teachers and students
    (2010-07-01) Amunga, Jane K.; Amadalo, Maurice M.; Maiyo, Julius K.
    The aim of the stu­dy was to in­ves­ti­ga­te the te­achers’ and stu­dents’ per­cep­tion of ran­king scho­ols and stu­dents in na­tio­nal exa­mi­na­tions. A desc­rip­ti­ve sur­vey de­sign was used and se­con­da­ry scho­ols in Ka­kame­ga south di­strict for­med the stu­dy po­pu­la­tion. The sam­ple fra­me con­sis­ted of 75 se­con­da­ry scho­ols stra­ti­fied ac­cor­ding to per­for­man­ce in­to low, ave­ra­ge and top ran­ked ca­te­go­ries. The sam­ple si­ze consis­ted of 36 scho­ols (12 from each per­for­man­ce ca­te­go­ry) se­lec­ted by sim­ple ran­dom sam­pling and 252 res­pon­dents se­lec­ted pur­po­si­ve­ly from the 36 scho­ols. Da­ta col­lec­tion in­stru­ments we­re qu­es­tion­nai­res. Re­lia­bi­li­ty was es­tab­lis­hed by use of test re­test tech­ni­que. Most of the stu­dents and most he­ad te­achers ap­pro­ved of ran­king whi­le most of the te­achers di­sap­pro­ved of ran­king. Des­pi­te this stand on ran­king, both the te­achers and stu­dents felt that ran­king should be im­pro­ved and thus cal­led for a sys­tem of as­sessment that en­com­pas­sed all the as­pects ins­te­ad of fo­cu­sing on aca­de­mic per­for­man­ce on­ly. This would en­su­re that ran­king of scho­ols and stu­dents did not glo­ri­fy aca­de­mic achie­ve­ment at the ex­pen­se of ta­lent and ot­her vir­tu­es.
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    Social challenges facing heads of schools in the process of enacting the children's act (2001).
    (2010-09-01) Maiyo, Julius K.; Owiye, Joan; Nandi, Caroline R.
    Education has been identified as a tool for fostering the development of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and ideals necessary for individuals to play a productive role in any society. The signing of the various global policy frameworks such as the 1998 United Nations convention on the rights of the child (CRC), the 1990 Jomtien world conference on EFA, the 2000 world education forum (Dakar, Senegal) and the 2000 Millennium Development goals (MDGs) demonstrated the commitment by governments to the well being of children. In regard to this, Kenya fully implemented FPE in 2001 and also partially free secondary education in 2008. However, there are social challenges facing the management of schools in the wake of the craze to achieve high mean scores which go against the rights of children as stipulated in the Children’s Act (2001) and in turn affect retention and participation of the children in education. Overemphasis on the cognitive aspect of education, while overlooking the other potentials that a child has, leads to discriminatory acts that may hinder full participation of a child in education. This study therefore sought to identify the social challenges facing heads of schools in the enactment of the children’s rights and also establish ways of dealing with the challenges identified. A case study methodology was used to achieve in-depth and detailed information. The study was carried out in Bungoma East District of Western Province where 10% of secondary schools were purposively sampled. The research tools employed included; questionnaires, interview schedules and focus group discussions (FGD) to collect information from students, Heads of departments (Guiding and counseling), Heads of schools and District quality assurance and standards officers (DQUASO). Data was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Descriptive analysis was used to report the results of the data. The study found out that Principals and DQUASO (District Quality Assurance and Standards Officer) were aware of the children’s Act and policy on repeating but societal expectations and school policies made it impossible to implement the same. Of the teachers sampled, 72% were aware of the children’s Act but upward job mobility influenced their position as regards acts of discrimination in education. Only a small percentage (13) of the children sampled were aware of their rights yet they did not understand that acts of humiliation as regards achieving of low grades in examinations were actually acts of discrimination that goes against their rights in education. The study too found out that there is no serious follow up by the government on the implementation of the policy on repeating and the enactment of the children’s rights 2001. Parents seem to stand on the fence helplessly as their children go through acts of humiliation with regard to their grades in examinations. The study recommends the government to endeavor to implement to the fullest both the children’s act, specifically in education and the policy on repeating in schools in order to seal the gaps that allow for discriminatory acts in the school system
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    Participatory decision making in secondary schools: case of students’ involvement in mwala division, Kenya.
    (2010-09-01) Mulwa, David; Maiyo, Julius K.
    The study was an investigation of the participation in decision making by secondary schools students in Mwala division, Mwala district. The purpose was to identify the key decision makers in Secondary schools and the extent to which students were involved in decision making as far as curriculum and instruction, students’ management and welfare, and school-community relations were concerned. The study was based on the Normative Model of Group Decision making. The study hypothesized that schools would largely involve students in decision making in order to avert major crises like school strikes. The study used data collected from three secondary schools randomly selected from 10 public secondary schools in Mwala division. A sample of 80 students was selected randomly to represent the schools. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. Data were sourced from the students by use of a questionnaire. Data was analyzed by use of descriptive analysis techniques which involves frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations. It was established that students participated least in decision making concerning curriculum and instruction, and students’ management and welfare but largely participated in making decisions concerning school community relations. More than 95% of the students indicated that they would like to participate more in decision making
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    Gender and regional disparities in enrolment and academic achievement in Kenya: implications for education planning.
    (2010-12-01) Amunga, Jane; Musasia, Amadalo Maurice; Maiyo, Julius
    According to the requirements of the educational millennium development goals, countries are supposed to ensure that by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike complete a full course of primary education and eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005 and at all levels by 2015. In line with this requirement, the Kenya government introduced free primary education (FPE) in 2003 and free secondary education in 2008 particularly for day schools. Enrolment in both primary school and secondary school has increased tremendously. This paper examines and highlights the patterns of gender and regional disparities in enrolment and academic achievement in the country. It shows that despite the general increase in enrolment at all levels of education in most regions; the enrolment of boys still exceeds that of girls. The situation is worse North Eastern where enrolment has remained very low despite government interventions. While enrolment figures offer a lot of hope, the situation is grim in academic achievement. Near parity in enrolment in many regions has failed to translate into parity in academic achievement. The girls register low achievement in national examinations when compared to boys nationally and in their respective regions in the country. The paper focuses on the 2009 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results because it is the most immediate examination year. Where possible, other years have been used for comparison purposes. This paper argues that it is not enough to have girls in school. They have to benefit from the system by achieving quality grades which will in turn guarantee placement in marketable courses especially those required to drive the economy. Educational planners and policy makers should shift the campaign from enrolment and participation to achievement particularly that of girls.
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    Education and poverty, relationship and concerns. a case for Kenya
    (2011-12-01)
    Poverty has many dimensions and does not merely entail low levels of income or expenditure. According to Sen (1992), poverty is the lack of capability to function effectively in society. Inadequate education can thus be considered a form of poverty. Education is widely accepted as the main exit route from poverty. It is the backbone of growth and development of individuals and the nation. However, its achievement continues to elude many who are poverty stricken. This paper articulates the issues of education and poverty which is related to that of chicken-egg relationships. The study used secondary data from eight provinces in Kenya. The study correlated the poverty headcount with the educational indicators. It emerged from the data that provinces which had less poverty levels (Central-30.4% and Nairobi 29.5%) experienced high literacy rate, high enrolment and low dropout rate, while regions which had higher levels of poverty headcount (North Eastern-73.9% and Coast-69.7%) experienced low literacy rates, and poor academic performance. The study Concluded that extreme poor are denied access to education, poverty hampers learning in developing countries through poor nutrition, health, home circumstances, quality, costs and inadequate resources for education. The study recommends the government to introduce/re-introduce/ strengthen school feeding programme, subsidize school uniform and address the issues of opportunity cost for the extreme poor among others
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    A study of households poverty levels and its influence on primary schools internal efficiency in Kwanza district of Kenya
    (2012-02) Julius, Maiyo Kiprop
    Education is widely accepted as the main backbone of growth and development of individuals and the nation. However, its achievement continues to elude many who are poverty stricken. Government of Kenya introduced free primary education in 2003 and tuition free secondary education in 2008. It is estimated that about 3 millions children are not enrolled in primary schools. For the children who enrolled in grade one, only between 46-48% can manage to complete the final grade and transition rate remained below 50%. The study was envisaged to look at households’ poverty levels and its influence in internal efficiency of primary schools in Kwanza district of Kenya. The objective of the study was to: determine the poverty levels of the selected households, ascertain the internal efficiency of primary schools and to establish relationship between the households poverty levels and schools internal efficiency. The study used the theory of production function developed by Von Thunen 1826. The study adopted an integrated interdisciplinary approach to investigate the research problem. Descriptive research method was employed. The study used survey research design. The sample size of the study was 468 respondents’, comprising of 360 household heads, 12 head teachers and 96 class teachers. Simple random and purposive sampling design was used. Four instruments were developed and used to collect data: Questionnaires for the households’ heads and class teachers, school data form and interviews. Data was analyzed with the help of SPSS computer programme (11.5). Household poverty levels were determined by use of poverty indexes developed by Greer and Thorbecke (1986). National poverty line of Ksh 1562 developed by the government of Kenya in 2005/06 was adopted. Schools internal efficiency was determine with the help of educational statistical indicators developed by UNESCO (2009). Further to establish the relationship and test the hypotheses statistically, Pearson product moment correlation test was adopted. Findings of the study were presented by use of tables and figures. The study revealed that Kwanza district had 43.3 % of the households living above the poverty line, and 56.7 % of them operating below the poverty line. In the period 2004-2009 the dropout rate in Kwanza district schools ranged between 6.3% to 25.6%. While in the year (2010) the district average dropout range between 4.5% to 24.3%. Further the findings revealed that Kwanza district on average had a transition rate of 44.62% between the period 2002-2009, which implied that about 55.38% pupils on the final grade in the district did not preceded for their secondary education. The study also revealed that household’s poverty level had a significant relationship with majority of the school internal efficiency measures which included repetition, dropout, survival rate, cohort wastage, academic achievement and transition rate. The study implications among others were that the ministry of education should establish indicators for monitoring, evaluation and assessment of progress made in achieving educational goals. The focus should include monitoring of inputs and outputs of school education to assess their efficiency and effectiveness. The government should take the key responsibility of preparing data base of the poor families in the district and develop a credit cum-subsidy scheme that will provide financial support in terms of loans to the disadvantage group.
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    Socio-economic factors influencing implementation of the Ainabkoi settlement scheme 1963-2008 in Eldoret east district, Kenya
    (2013-10) Boit, Kipchirchir John
    Settlement schemes in Kenya have been faced with various constraints since independence in 1963. The main purpose of the study was to examine the socio-economic factors that affected Ainabkoi settlement scheme from independence to 2008. Methodology employed included oral interviews, secondary data and archival sources. The study also sought to interview 80 original settlers in all four phases or blocks in Ainabkoi settlement scheme. A pilot study was carried out in Lessos settlement scheme. Rural Development approach was used in analyzing data. The analysis of data was done using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study upheld the ethnicity and sociocultural organization, such as lineage and clan loyalties persisted in Ainabkoi Settlement Scheme adversely affecting settlers socio-economic transformation. One of the findings was that the settlers should be regarded more as pioneers and therefore allowed to put a great deal of work on what will be their land in future. Secondly, the study showed that both social and economic factors are important for the attainment of settlement scheme objectives. Based on the findings, the study recommends that there should be national selection criteria of settlers for all settlement projects, future planning be considered by diversifying the economy of the settlers and by introducing pre-tested crops of high quality and cushion farmers against the fluctuations in market prices and enable them meet the demands of the settlement programme.
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    Challenges faced by small and medium enterprises in accessing public contracts in Bondo, Kenya
    (International Journals of Multidisciplinary Research Academy, 2014-05-01) Olang'o, Abuya Joshua; Gerald, Ondiek
    Kenya Government has been in the forefront in advocating for the youth access to Government Contracts. This has been evidenced by the Presidential Directive on Youth Access to Govermnent contracts by allocating 10% of all public contracts to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Despite this preferential treatment of SMEs, comparative tallies of public contracts secured by SMEs in Bondo against those secured by large enterprises are still very small. The study objectives are to determine the main challenges faced by SMEs in accessing public sector contracts in Bondo District and determining the types of public contracts often secured by SMEs in Bondo District. The research design adopted was stratified random sampling of SMEs in which self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data. A sample size of 136 SMEs out of a population of 210 SMEs were selected. The collected data was analysed using descriptive statistics. From the study perceived corruption, large documentation level, inavailability of public contracts, lack of information access, lack of feedback, large lot sizes, existing framework arrangements, lack of capital, long procurement time-scales, bureaucratic procurement procedures, stringent selection criteria, inaccurate contract information, cost of tendering, poor business infrastructure unfavorable taxation regime and pre-qualification were the major challenges SMEs face in accessing public sector contracts in Bondo. Again the study found that SMEs in Bondo which to some extent secured public sector contracts were found to have mostly drawn their public contracts from the Office of the President, Local Authority, Roads & Public Works and Agriculture & Regional Development. In conclusion, there are still a number of challenges that SMEs in Bondo are facing in accessing public sector contracts. These challenges need to be addressed by both the government and SMEs management. To accomplish this, the study recommends that further research be carried on how these challenges could be reduced both by government contracting authorities and/or SMEs themselves. Further research could also be carried on the initiatives the government has put to facilitate SMEs access to public contracts. Research could also be done on contribution of the level of education of procurement officers in achieving value for money during public procurement.
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    Socio-economic factors and orphan migration in Kisumu district, Kenya
    (2015) Ong'anyi, OP.; Ayiemba, E .; Ngala, CO.
    The growing numbers of AIDS orphans continues to present unprecedented socio-economic challenge to policy makers and institutions that assist them. Orphan migration, though driven by socio-economic necessity, has had untold consequences to spatial and temporal distribution of orphans in Kisumu District. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors in orphan migration in Kisumu District. The study, borrowing heavily from the adult migration and the multiple independent movements of AIDS orphans theoretical perspectives, uses descriptive study design to guide its execution. Pearson’s Chi-square (X2 ) test was run to test possible association between predisposer background (orphan and care provider) and identified orphan care factors while Logistic Regression model was used to assess the likelihood of orphan care factors driving orphan migration. Qualitative methods using Focus Group Discussions and In-depth Interviews were later employed to get deeper insights on care conditions and socio-economic causes of orphan migration. The study found that geographical disparity of orphans could be explained partly by orphan migration in Kisumu District. It has been demonstrated that care provider background characteristics including sex, place of residence, current marital status, employment status, level of education, and relation to orphan were significantly associated with orphan access to food and clothing, and exposure to stigma, and physical and sexual abuse. Indeed lack of economic and psycho-social support to households that care for orphans were the main cause of orphan mobility. The study recommends that in the short run, the governmental and non-governmental agencies should offer material and technical support to existing orphan care institutions to better care for the orphans. This will help curb high orphan mobility. On the long-term, high structural poverty levels in the region needs to be addressed to enable the community cope better in the management of orphans
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    Devolved governance in Kenya; is it a false start in democratic decentralization for development?
    (2015) Khaunya, Mukabi Frederick; Wawire, Barasa Peter
    Many democracies world over, including Kenya have in recent years adopted devolution as a system of decentralization for development. In Kenya, this was after years of the post independence approach of Local Governments which still embraced a strong centralized governance structure and which had been meant to resolve the regional development challenges but apparently failed. This is evidenced by the challenges in Kenya have mainly associated with bureaucratic inefficiencies, lack of accountability and transparency, unequal distribution of national resources and minimal community participation in local development, amongst others. The Constitution of Kenya 2010 upon promulgation and enactment changed the Governance structure from a centralized unit to devolved sub-units known as the County Governments. It was expected that the onset of these devolved governments after the 2013 Elections and enactment of subsidiary laws would address these development challenges of the centralized governance that Kenya has faced since independence. Indeed currently, there is a deliberate effort by the National Government to equitably distribute resources through County Government quota disbursements, there is evidence of increased accountability arising from efforts of relevant ‘watchdog’ institutions and also community participation in development matters through appropriate institutional frameworks can be noted. However, despite these apparent positive realizations through County Governments’ establishments in Kenya, they to a larger extent seem to have been overshadowed and threatened by a number of challenges, four years after the enactment of the Constitution and a year into their decentralized functionality. Currently, most media houses in Kenya have so much of the negative reports about the County Governments that the impression given is that this form of decentralization in Kenya could be a false start if not a total failure. For example, it is currently being reported that a Governor in Embu County, Eastern Kenya has been impeached due to impropriety, the Auditor General’s report screams of massive impropriety in many Counties, a section of Governors have been summoned by the Senate to account for some specified allegations, striking citizens in some Counties over one issue or another, boycotts due to ‘irregular’ appointments by respective County Public Service Boards, the list is endless! It is in light of the aforementioned reports and the initial apparent development challenges of centralized governance that the paper seeks to measure the extent to which these challenges have been addressed after the decentralized devolved system of governance was introduced. The paper adopts a diagnostic approach based on desk research to investigate these Kenyan challenges, draws from expert opinion and does comparative analysis based on lessons from other devolved political systems in Africa and the world. The paper explores and discusses these challenges with a view of informing other world democracies that have or are on the verge of adopting this strategy of decentralization for development to be conscious of these pitfalls and design appropriate structures and a roll out framework for circumventing them. It also informs Constitutional development of devolved government structures. The paper establishes that the County Governments in Kenya have indeed made significant progress in involvement of stakeholders on development at County level, a realization of devolvement of funds, creation of employment opportunities, a more accountable political system and devolvement of certain key functions to the local level.This is commendable. However, the study establishes that the Counties have been faced with a myriad of challenges that indeed stand in the way of the realized achievements, namely lack of political goodwill, inadequate funding, ‘devolved’ corruption, nepotism, inability to absorb some devolved functions, mistrust among stakeholders, different implementers of devolution with varied cultures and approaches, devolved bureaucracy, a bloated workforce with duplication of duties and internal political supremacy wars. These County Governments are also threatened by an over bearing National Assembly and Executive, an overzealous County Assembly, deteriorating public goodwill and a weak legislature and institutional framework. It therefore concludes that the malaise of a centralized system of governance still lingers within this devolved system and until these challenges are addressed, no real benefits of devolution will be realized or even if so, sustained. The author recommends legislation to allow for a phased approach to devolution preferably on pilot basis starting with the fairly large County Governments and those with varied economic, social and demographic characteristics, more stringent anti corruption laws and an effective mechanism for community participation. The retention of the public service functions with the National Government to maintain a smooth transition in public service delivery and a stringent and coherent legislative framework to guide all aspects of the devolution process are other recommendations suggested by the author.
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    Devolved governance in Kenya; is it a false start in democratic decentralization for development?
    (2015-01) Khaunya, Mukabi Frederick; Wawire, Barasa Peter; Chepng’eno, Viola
    Many democracies world over, including Kenya have in recent years adopted devolution as a system of decentralization for development. In Kenya, this was after years of the post independence approach of Local Governments which still embraced a strong centralized governance structure and which had been meant to resolve the regional development challenges but apparently failed. This is evidenced by the challenges in Kenya have mainly associated with bureaucratic inefficiencies, lack of accountability and transparency, unequal distribution of national resources and minimal community participation in local development, amongst others. The Constitution of Kenya 2010 upon promulgation and enactment changed the Governance structure from a centralized unit to devolved sub-units known as the County Governments. It was expected that the onset of these devolved governments after the 2013 Elections and enactment of subsidiary laws would address these development challenges of the centralized governance that Kenya has faced since independence. Indeed currently, there is a deliberate effort by the National Government to equitably distribute resources through County Government quota disbursements, there is evidence of increased accountability arising from efforts of relevant ‘watchdog’ institutions and also community participation in development matters through appropriate institutional frameworks can be noted. However, despite these apparent positive realizations through County Governments’ establishments in Kenya, they to a larger extent seem to have been overshadowed and threatened by a number of challenges, four years after the enactment of the Constitution and a year into their decentralized functionality. Currently, most media houses in Kenya have so much of the negative reports about the County Governments that the impression given is that this form of decentralization in Kenya could be a false start if not a total failure. For example, it is currently being reported that a Governor in Embu County, Eastern Kenya has been impeached due to impropriety, the Auditor General’s report screams of massive impropriety in many Counties, a section of Governors have been summoned by the Senate to account for some specified allegations, striking citizens in some Counties over one issue or another, boycotts due to ‘irregular’ appointments by respective County Public Service Boards, the list is endless! It is in light of the aforementioned reports and the initial apparent development challenges of centralized governance that the paper seeks to measure the extent to which these challenges have been addressed after the decentralized devolved system of governance was introduced. The paper adopts a diagnostic approach based on desk research to investigate these Kenyan challenges, draws from expert opinion and does comparative analysis based on lessons from other devolved political systems in Africa and the world. The paper explores and discusses these challenges with a view of informing other world democracies that have or are on the verge of adopting this strategy of decentralization for development to be conscious of these pitfalls and design appropriate structures and a roll out framework for circumventing them. It also informs Constitutional development of devolved government structures. The paper establishes that the County Governments in Kenya have indeed made significant progress in involvement of stakeholders on development at County level, a realization of devolvement of funds, creation of employment opportunities, a more accountable political system and devolvement of certain key functions to the local level.This is commendable. However, the study establishes that the Counties have been faced with a myriad of challenges that indeed stand in the way of the realized achievements, namely lack of political goodwill, inadequate funding, ‘devolved’ corruption, nepotism, inability to absorb some devolved functions, mistrust among stakeholders, different implementers of devolution with varied cultures and approaches, devolved bureaucracy, a bloated workforce with duplication of duties and internal political supremacy wars. These County Governments are also threatened by an over bearing National Assembly and Executive, an overzealous County Assembly, deteriorating public goodwill and a weak legislature and institutional framework. It therefore concludes that the malaise of a centralized system of governance still lingers within this devolved system and until these challenges are addressed, no real benefits of devolution will be realized or even if so, sustained. The author recommends legislation to allow for a phased approach to devolution preferably on pilot basis starting with the fairly large County Governments and those with varied economic, social and demographic characteristics, more stringent anti corruption laws and an effective mechanism for community participation. The retention of the public service functions with the National Government to maintain a smooth transition in public service delivery and a stringent and coherent legislative framework to guide all aspects of the devolution process are other recommendations suggested by the author.
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    Study of the relationship between study habits and academic achievement of students: a case of Spicer higher secondary school, India
    (Academic Journals, 2015-09) Siahi, Evans Atsiaya; Maiyo, Julius K.
    The studies on the correlation of academic achievement have paved way for control and manipulation of related variables for quality results in schools. In spite of the facts that schools impart uniform classroom instructions to all students, wide range of difference is observed in their academic achievement. The study sought to determine the relationship between study habits and academic achievement of students. A survey design was employed in this descriptive correlation study. The target population included the 9th standard students at Spicer Higher Secondary School. Stratified random sampling was used to select the respondents, study habits inventory by N.M. Palsane and school examinations records was the main instrument for data collection. Quantitative method was used to analyze field data collected. Interpretation and recommendations of the findings was made accordingly as per computed Pearson’s product moment coefficient of correlation. Results of this study revealed a positive relationship of 0.66 between study habits and academic achievement. The results implied that the study habits need a significant attention if we are to improve performance. There was a clear finding that the teachers and students seem not to take effort in developing good study habits.
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    Evaluation of resource needs and service delivery of performance contracting in public primary teachers training colleges in Kenya
    (© 2016 IJSRST, 2016) Kipkenei, Simon K.; Ndiku, Judah; Maiyo, Julius K.; Cherui, Rodgers
    Performance contract as a branch of management science refers to a management control systems which is a contractual agreement to execute a service according to an agreed upon terms, within an established time period and with a stipulated use of resources and performance standards. The government of Kenya introduced performance contract signing in 2004. The aim was to improve service delivery and resource utilization in public institutions among other objectives. The introduction of performance contracting in public primary teachers training colleges was an effort to institute a framework of accountability and enhance service delivery in Kenya. This study sought to establish the availability of resources for implementing Performance contracting with an aim of improving service delivery to the public. It employed descriptive survey design. The target population was 2270 employees and 783 members of the students’ councils of Public Primary Teachers Training Colleges. Purposive sampling, simple random sampling and stratified random sampling were used to identify the sample population. A total of 429 respondents formed the sample size representing 30% of the study population. The study revealed several challenges in the implementation process which included lack of funds, lack of training and capacity building of employees regarding performance contracting, ambiguity in the process and resistance by personnel to participate in the process hence these challenges had hindered the successful implementation of Performance contracts in PPTTCs. It is recommended that performance contracting strategy should be strengthened with the availing of more financial resources to ensure that the required learning and teaching resources are all made available
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    Contribution of continuing professional development for school managers on teacher management competencies of secondary school managers in Kenya
    (International Journal of Education and Research, 2016) Bulimo, Winnie A.; Ndiku, Judah M.; Maiyo, Julius K.
    Guided by the Learning Organizations’ theory of Peter Senge (1990) this paper sought to determine the difference between the contribution of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) on the teacher management competencies of the Heads of Department and the senior managers of secondary schools in Kenya. The study’s sample comprised of 443 respondents determined using the Cochran’s sample size formula, stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Data was analyzed using means and t-tests. The study found out that there was a significant difference in contribution of CPD to the HoDs and senior managers’ teacher management competencies. It concluded that there was a significant difference in contribution of CPD on teacher management competencies of the HoDs and the senior managers of secondary schools in Kenya.
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    Towards equitable access to continuing professional development programs by secondary school managers in Kenya.
    (2016) Bulimo, Winnie A.; Maiyo, Julius K.; Ndiku, Judah M.
    Guided by the Learning Organizations’ theory of Peter Senge (1990) this paper sought to determine the extent to which the senior managers and the Heads of department of secondary schools participated in Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The study’s sample comprised of 443 respondents determined using the Cochran’s sample size formula, stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. It was analyzed using percentages and chi square tests. The study found out that there was significant relationship between participation to CPD and designation; there was no relation between participation to CPD and gender of the school manager; finally no significant relationship existed between participation to CPD and type of school managed. It was concluded that participation to external CPD programs was skewed and was a reserve for the senior managers of secondary school, while participation to school based mentorship programs was a reserve for the heads of department. However, there was equity in participation to CPD by gender and by type of school managed