Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa allocate between 5% and 25% of public expenditure budgets to education ministries, because education is seen, correctly, as a major contributor to human welfare, social and economic development (World Bank, 2005). It is clear that these large expenditures are sub-optimal and provide less than the expected return. This situation has been felt more acutely with the introduction of free primary education (FPE). Despite the high enrolment in FPE in urban areas, the response from pastoral communities has been rather lukewarm.The general objective of the study was to investigate the challenges faced in implementing Free Primary Education policy among pastoralists in Kenya. Consequently, the rationale of this study lies in need to evaluate the impact of an educational policy and find out how its implementation responds to challenges in provision of access to Primary Schooling. The study adopted ethnographic research design that utilised purposive sampling technique and saturation procedure to select a total of 170 respondents that included head teachers, teachers, parents, school dropouts, educational managers, community leaders, and Non Governmental Organizations. Purposive sampling was used to select individuals, groups and organizations that would provide insight into the study. Data was collected using focus group interviews, structured and unstructured interviews, observation, and document analysis. Subsequently, data was collected by use of questionnaire that was sent to head-teachers and education officials and was used only to validate the qualitative data. The collected data was coded, analyzed, described and summarized in order to generate themes on educational policy and practice. The study identified various challenges such as: inadequate funding; poor infrastructure; limited awareness towards education; limited community support; insecurity and cattle rustling and lifestyle of pastoralists that impedes the government’s efforts to attain FPE. These challenges threatened the implementation of FPE for pastoralists and further illustrate the complex and messy process of policy implementation in education sector. Key words: free primary education (FPE), policy implementation, pastoral communities, challenges.
The realities of stakeholders' participation in school management to enhance the learners' academic achievement has continued to attract some debates from a range of stakeholders. Regardless of such debates, governments have continued to uphold the policy position and support the implementation of stakeholder involvement in school management. Yet some stakeholders' mixed reactions point not only to the possibilities of policy failure but also their lack of a clear understanding of its implementation realities. The school stakeholders are supposed to oversee the proper running of schools but they have not effectively played their role. General literature on stakeholder participation in education exists. However, it largely focuses on School management committee roles, challenges, and impacts in education service delivery. It hardly explores the insights into the extent of stakeholders' participation in school improvement planning, budgeting process, and coordinating the academic activities in the context of developing countries. This paper, therefore, explores the background information, stakeholder participation, gaps in the literature, and way forward. The conclusion was drawn based on the extent of key stakeholders' participation in school management to efficiently and effectively enhance the quality of educational output.
This paper analyzed the extent of stakeholders' participation in school management and the enhancement of the learners' academic achievement in public secondary schools in Uganda. The major challenges facing effective participation were; inadequate policy formulation and institutional framework; lackadaisical attitude towards participation; low awareness about the roles and stakeholders' participation policy. These resulted in poor school management and low quality of learners' academic achievement. It was concluded that there was a need to develop a conceptual model explaining how stakeholder participation could be adopted to strengthen the operational capacity of key stakeholders for efficient and effective service delivery. This would impact the quality of learning outcomes in public secondary schools in Uganda. This model has been developed based on findings from a larger study, on stakeholders' participation in school management to enhance the learner's academic achievement in selected public secondary schools in Uganda. Based on this model, it is expected that secondary schools in similar contexts could learn a big deal on how they can explore the key drivers of school management for their benefit.
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