Secondary schools in a county in Kenya seem to be taking advantages of the cost sharing policy: Understanding its practice and implications

The study set out to research on parents’ views regarding the practice of cost sharing policy in secondary schools in Kenya in relation to form one entry items requirement and fee payment. This article reports on its findings. The study adopted a quantitative survey and employed a questionnaire (both closed and open-ended) to collect data. The study involved 150 participants with a response rate of 83.3%. The data obtained was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) resulting in descriptive data. The results reveal that: the items required by schools have grown over the years (90 per cent, n=150); the items requirement are putting enormous pressure on the parents (96 per cent, n=150); the items requirements are negatively affecting children’s access to certain schools (94 per cent, n=150); and as a result many parents were forced to send their children to poor local harambee secondary schools (96 per cent, n=150) because they could not afford despite the fact that the children scored highly (obtained higher marks). Conclusion: long list of items required in relation to form one entry and their correspondingly high cost or prices are limiting students’ ability to access certain schools despite the fact that they have the required entry marks. Keywords: secondary schools, county, Kenya, cost sharing policy, parents, perspectives, advantage