Determinants of the Implementation of Day-Wing Policy in Boarding Secondary Schools in Nairobi City County, Kenya

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue VI, June 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

Determinants of the Implementation of Day-Wing Policy in Boarding Secondary Schools in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Oteko Malvine Akinyi, Dr. Wilson Muna
School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kenyatta University.

Abstract
The government of Kenya believes that the major reason for low enrolment in secondary schools is the high cost of secondary education. The number of students proceeding for secondary education had increased in the recent past although a big number of students still did not enroll in secondary schools. The policy of introducing day-wing into selected boarding secondary schools in Kenya was put in place to increase enrolment and to ensure 100 percent transition of students from primary to secondary school after the introduction of subsidized day secondary education and free day secondary education. This study aimed at assessing the determinants of implementation of day-wing policy into boarding secondary schools in Nairobi City County. The study adopted the Systems Theory. The study took place in ten boarding secondary schools in Nairobi City County which had the day-wing program. The study employed descriptive research design. The target population included ten school principals, fifteen deputy principals and six hundred teachers. Data collection instruments included use of questionnaires and interview schedule. Quantitative data was analyzed using frequencies, mean and percentage which was presented on graphs, tables and charts. Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data which was then presented in prose. Before commencing the study, the researcher sort permission from Kenyatta University, the Ministry of Education and principals of the ten boarding secondary schools implementing the day-wing policy. The study found out the introduction of day-wing on boarding secondary schools had put a lot of pressure on the available resources apart from textbooks which the government supplied in surplus. Cases of indiscipline had also increased. Coordination of activities became hectic and teachers had been overstretched due to too much workload. The study recommended that for the policy to be viable, the government needed to provide boarding schools with physical, human and financial resources to cater for increased number of students.

I.INTRODUCTION

Africa is faced with serious challenges in human resource development, majorly in secondary education, with majority of the countries recording extremely low levels of secondary school enrolment (Bregman, 2008). According to Africa-America Institute (AAI) (2015), secondary education equips a country’s labor force with skills and tools necessary for meeting the fast-increasing demands for a workforce which is highly skilled in a global world. Despite the significant role of secondary education, secondary schools across Africa can accommodate only 36 per cent of those students qualifying for secondary education. This therefore makes it a necessity for African governments to invest in and increase access to secondary education.
Jane (2009) observed that the cost of education is a major determinant in enrolling in school. This is the direct price of sending a child to school. The high cost of education hinders students from low economic backgrounds from enrolling in school. The government and individuals bear a burden of the cost of education so as access education. Lewis (2003) affirms this as he says that both parents and the government bear the cost of education although parents bear it indirectly through taxes and personal expenditures to support school activities.

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