Adoption of cost sharing policy in education has witnessed the return to communities and parents a substantial proportion of financial responsibility for schooling. With increased poverty levels, many parents and communities have not been able to meet the cost requirements under cost sharing policy. Thus their investment in education and support to their children’s education have dwindled, this study therefore intended to evaluate the impact of cost sharing on internal efficiency of public secondary schools in Ndivisi division of Bungoma district. In particular the study sought to find out the direct costs of secondary school education, the proportion of dropout, absenteeism and repetition attributed to costs of secondary education, the extent to which parents and communities contribute to physical facilities and equipment in schools. It is hoped that this study has contributed useful information applicable to the effective implementation of cost sharing policies in education in Kenya. It has encouraged further interest and inquiry into the application of cost-sharing policies in education. This is also a significant contribution to the development of an appropriate policy for financing education in Kenya, the scope of the study was all public secondary schools in Ndivisi division of Bungoma district. Seven secondary schools in the division were purposively sampled. The study was carried out using descriptive survey study design. The researcher used questionnaires, observation and interview schedules as research tools. Analysis of documented data was also done to gather relevant information. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analyzed. Qualitative data were analyzed in narration form while quantitative data were analyzed by use of %, means and frequencies. Tables were used to present data for easy interpretation. The study found out that school fees, uniform, transport and stationary were among the direct costs incurred by parents. On average, the transition rate was 0.30, dropout rate was 0.095 and repetition rate was 0.03, parent’s contribution to physical facilities and equipment was minimal. Parents and teachers view cost sharing as a burden and it has both negative and positive impact. Negative in the sense that it has increased dropout, repetition and absenteeism and it has led to inadequate facilities and equipment in schools, positively, it has led to democratization in the management of schools. The study recommended that the government should establish the unit cost of secondary education and provide fee guidelines that are acceptable by all and additional costs in the middle of the term or year should be avoided. School administrators should encourage and use locally available teaching-learning materials, start income generating activities and sensitize parents on their role in the provision of physical facilities and equipment in schools.

 

Key words: Cost sharing, internal efficiency