Abstract:
The thrust of the study reported in this paper was to examine the impact of cost-sharing policy on participation
in, and quality of education in public universities in Kenya. The major contention of this study, informed by
current literature and debate on higher education in Africa, is that the cost sharing policy which was
propagated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in the 1980s has adversely affected
many aspects of education culminating in low enrolment at all levels, insufficient provision of learning
resources and deterioration in education provision. The study was premised on Systems theory. A descriptive
survey research design was adopted utilizing mixed methods of quantitative and qualitative research
approaches. A combination of purposive and stratified random sampling was used to select 320 students from
public universities comprising 192 from regular and 128 from institution based Programmes (IBP) distributed
according to gender and schools/faculties of study. The study used questionnaires and focus group discussion
guidelines (FGDs) to collect data from the respondents. The quantitative data from questionnaires was
analyzed with the aid of the stat9stical package for social sciences (SPSS) Computer programme version 20 to
generate descriptive statistics that was presented in tables, percentages and charts. The qualitative data from
fgds was analyzed thematically and presented in narrative and direct quotes. The major findings of the study
were that the current funding sources from parents and Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) were grossly
inadequate to meet the financial requirements of university students in the study locales. The least affected
were found to be the IBP students since they supplemented the loans with their earnings and other resources.
As a result, most of the regular students resorted to income generating activities, some of which not only antisocial,
but time consuming, hence adversely affecting their concentration in their academic pursuits. To
compensate for the precious lost learning time , more than 80 % of the affected students resorted to using
photocopied notes from their colleagues while a few others used illegal mechanisms of mwakenya
( codified methods of cheating in examinations) to prepare for their examinations. These symptoms justify the
diagnosis of the emerging disease of dismal participation in, and falling standards of education in public
universities in Kenya. The paper recommends that more sustainable mechanisms should be worked out to
increase and make the current financing arrangements more effective and efficient in enhancing the falling
standards in institutions of higher education. In addition, universities on their part should tighten the
monitoring of students attendance and participation as well as introduce tough measures to deal with this
emerging non-attendance and examination irregularities as methods of ensuring high standards are maintained
in institutions of higher learning not only in Kenya but other African countries and beyond.[457 words].
