Evaluation of the effectiveness and sustainability of Constituency development fund in improvement of education Sector in Kirinyaga Central constituency, Kirinyaga county, Kenya.

This study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness and sustainability of Kenya’s Constituency Development Fund as a fiscal decentralized initiative aimed at poverty reduction. The study focused on the contribution of CDF on education and how this has brought about changes related to increased enrollment, reduced dropout rates, improved academic performance and effective bursary. Kirinyaga Central District was used as the area of study. The specific objectives were to establish to what extent CDF has led to enrolment in secondary schools, to find out to what extent CDF has led to retention in secondary schools, to find out the contribution of CDF towards KCSE performance in secondary schools, to establish the effectiveness of CDF in improving retention and completion rates in secondary schools. To achieve the objectives set by the researcher, quantitative methodology with descriptive research design and the ex-post facto design were adopted. Before the actual data was collected, the researcher conducted a pilot study in the District of study where six schools were randomly selected, which were not part of the study sample. The participants were six head teachers and eighteen teachers, giving a total of twenty four cases. The pilot study was used to test the reliability and validity of the instrument that was used. This helped in familiarizing with the respondents, test question sequence, eliminate biased questions, repetitive and ambiguous questions and also to estimate response rate as well as test analysis procedures. Data was collected using questionnaires and secondary data from the Kenya National Examinations Council, CDF portal, and ministry of education. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and statistical package for Social Scientists (SPSS version 12.0) then presented inform of frequency distributions and cross tabulations. The study found that the CDF was effective. However, the potential of the CDF was undermined by various issues arising from inadequacy of funds, faulty selection of committee members, lack of important institutional linkages, delay of funds, corruption and high- handedness among others influenced the effectiveness and sustainability of the program. The study recommends that measures be taken to reduce the political influence on the implementation of the program and how to transfer the management of the program from one regime to the other without paralyzing it; need for professionals to be admitted to the Constituency Development Fund Committee; need for comprehensive data base of needy students at the national and constituency levels; CDF should create interactive communication channels with the community and community participation in identification and prioritization of CDF projects; need for effective record keeping at national and grass-root levels; schools to initiate Income Generating Activities (IGAs) to supplement secondary education financing to ensure its sustainability as the fund being allocated is not sufficient