Free Tuition Secondary Education Policy on Girl-child Participation

With the introduction of Free Tuition Secondary Education (FTSE) Policy in 2008 in Kenya, it was anticipated that the GER would increase, particularly in mixed day secondary schools where parents have been relieved of the burden of paying tuition fees and only pay for lunch and infrastructure upgrading. This study established that there was fluctuating trends in the actual grade survival rates (AGSR) of the 2004 and 2008 female cohorts from grade to grade with a mean AGSR of 89.38 percent and 89.63 percent respectively, while the AGSR at Form Four for the two cohorts were 76.06 percent and 74.50 percent respectively; graduation rates (GR) based on grade for the 2007 and 2011 female candidates were 97.55 percent and 98.11 percent respectively while GR based on the 2004 and 2008 cohorts were 74.65 percent and 74.50 percent respectively. The study concluded that FTSE Policy has positively influenced access of the girl-child to education and recommended that the government should come up with affirmative action to further improve access and survival rates of the girl-child.