Viviline Cherotich Ngeno, Enose M.W. Simatwa and T.M.O. Ayodo
Girl child education at secondary school level is highly valued by parents in Kericho District in the present time than before. This is because most parents have realized that educating a girl child is as good as educating a boy child as it leads to eradication of poverty, ignorance and diseases. However, with limited financial resources parents are forced to choose between educating their girls in day or boarding secondary schools. Thus, parents and guardians lack guiding principles on making informed decisions on the choice of schools amid limited financial resources. Girls in boarding secondary schools usually perform better in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examinations than girls in day secondary schools in Kericho District. For example in the year 2007 the mean score for girls in boarding secondary schools was 7.48 while in day secondary schools it was 4.69 and in 2008 and 2009 the mean scores for girls in boarding secondary schools was 7.93 and 8.24 respectively while girls in day secondary schools the mean scores were 4.88 and 4.05 respectively. Whichever the case, the debate on cost effectiveness of educating the girl child in boarding or day secondary school has not been concluded. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish cost effectiveness of educating the girl child in boarding and day secondary school in Kericho District. Descriptive survey research design was used in the study. The study population consisted of 6 head teachers, 82 teachers and 150 form four girls of 2010 from 6 secondary schools. The study found that boarders performed better than day scholars. The day scholars had a mean of 3.38 while the boarders had 3.59 in the five schools in the year 2010. The study also found that it was more cost effective to educate girls in day schools compared to boarding schools. This was because parents and the government used on average Kshs. 14,804.55 to achieve the greatest level of output of a day scholar girl and Kshs 17,997.49 to achieve the greatest level of output of a girl child in boarding school. The study concluded that it was more cost effective to educate girls in day secondary schools compared to boarding secondary schools. The findings of this study are significant to parents, school administrators, planners and policy makers in the Ministry of Education in decision making on financing of education with regard to the girl child education in Kericho District.
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