Effect of Subsidized Secondary Education Policy on Students Retention in Kakamega East Sub County, Kenya

In 2008, the Kenyan government introduced subsidized secondary education with an aim of enhancing access to secondary education. The launch was meant to address, amongst other things, the problem of low retention rate witnessed in secondary schools. This study sought to establish the effect of subsidized secondary education policy on students retention in Public Day secondary schools in Kakamega East Sub-County. The study was guided by Production Function Theory. The study adopted survey design and its target population comprised of all Principals of the 35 Public Day Secondary Schools and 1 DEO. A census of all the 35 Public Day Secondary Schools was undertaken. Data from school principals was collected by use of a questionnaire while those from the DEO was gathered by the aid of interview schedule. Quantitative data was analyzed by use of Paired Sample t-test while Qualitative data was analyzed thematically. Both Qualitative and Quantitative data was merged for presentation. The findings were presented descriptively and use of tables, means, range and percentages. The study established significant difference in students retention rates before and after the introduction of Subsidized Secondary Education Policy. It was therefore concluded that the Subsidized Secondary Education Policy had positively contributed to retention rates in Public Day Secondary Schools. However, to improve further on retention rate of the secondary schools, this study recommends that the government should increase capitation to cater for extra levies that are not covered by the policy and to improve on the status of human and physical resources.