Assessment of the current sources for financing educational activities in youth polytechnics in Imenti south district in Kenya

Abstract

Despite the rationale for introduction of safety nets such as bursaries and constituency development fund in the education sector, there are increasing concerns over the limited finances in youth polytechnics to provide quality education and training. This is because, almost all educational institutions in Kenya face serious financial constraints due to failure by parents to pay fees promptly. The condition is made worse by introduction of structural adjustment programme and cost sharing policy in the 1980’s. This has given the youth polytechnics in Kenya a big blow because technical education is expensive due to tools and equipment required for education and training. The youth polytechnics are starved of funds and are operating on inadequate resources for both recurrent and capital expenditure. This study sought to assess the current sources of financing education in youth polytechnics in Imenti South District-Meru County. A descriptive survey design was adopted for a youth officer, 2 managers and 43 instructors in two youth polytechnics, giving a total of 46. Purposive sampling technique was employed and the sample size was 27 respondents, namely 1 youth officer, 2 managers and 24 instructors. Data collection used questionnaires, observations and interview schedules. The two main sources of finances for the youth polytechnics were parents and government subsidies. The income from Income Generating Activities and other sources came in third and fourth, respectively. The funds are insufficient for institutions recurrent and development expenditures. Thus the government should increase funding to the youth polytechnics, while youth polytechnics should venture into more Income generating activities to supplement the funding and also increase viability of their programmes.