Who Benefits from Secondary Education Bursary Fund in Kenya?

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of the Secondary Education Bursary Fund SEBF in
enhancing equity in access to secondary school educational opportunities. The discussion is
guided by Rawls’ theory of social justice as fairness (1971) upon which the concept of equity is
grounded. The study is specifically influenced by the Difference Principle and the Criterion of
Reciprocity on the basis of reasonable citizenship as espoused by Rawls. The Secondary
Education Bursary Fund (SEBF) was established in 1994 by a presidential decree to help the
socio-economically disadvantaged groups to access secondary education. The findings indicate
that the bursary beneficiaries transcend all socio-economic boundaries and that the allocation
mechanism did not, as was intended, effectively target bursary support to students from poor
and vulnerable socio-economic groups. As a result, the fund has had little impact on equity in
access to secondary education. There is therefore an urgent need to make necessary structural
and management adjustments to the bursary fund to make it more responsive and selective to
those in need of financial support. Of significance is adoption of management information
systems to enable effective and efficient administration of the fund. The findings will inform
management decisions geared towards revitalizing the fund as well as informing policy
formulation and review and aid scholarly debate on issues of educational financial subsidies.