Revisiting Bursary Awards, HELB and National Polytechnics in Kenya: The Place of Recipients’ Socio-Economic Status

Abstract

The tertiary level of education in Kenya plays a vital role in poverty reduction, curbing inequality and promotion of sustainable economic growth and development. However, financing for students at this level of education still continues to hinder accessibility as it may be linked to challenges such as unemployment. Despite this, the surging number of secondary school graduates as a result of free primary and subsidised secondary education continues to increase demand for TVET programmes. This paper examines the relationship between the socio economic status of diploma student bursary recipients and the amount awarded. The discussions are grounded on the findings of a study that targeted students in National Polytechnics in Kenya. Anchored on the theory of socialist economics of education advanced by Louis Blanc, the study adopted an ex post facto research design. Eldoret Polytechnic, Kisumu Polytechnic and Kenya Technical Training Collage (KTTC) were the institutions used for the study. With a target population of 8,202 second year diploma students benefiting from bursaries, 330 respondents were randomly sampled. Three Academic Registrars and three Deans of Students in the three polytechnics were also purposively sampled making a total of 336 respondents. Data was collected using a questionnaire, interview guide and document analysis for bursaries disbursements. Face and content validity and test-retest technique at r = 0.7 were performed for validity and reliability, respectively. Data was analysed both descriptively and by inferential statistics. Correlation analysis was carried out using Pearson Correlation technique which revealed that there is a positive significant relationship between the SES and the amount of bursary awarded to the college students (r=.001; p=.0209). The authors of this paper recommend that HELB should ensure that the socio-economic status of polytechnic students should be considered when disbursing bursaries.

Keywords: Bursary, Disbursement, Socio-Economic Status, National Polytechnic, Diploma Students