Abstract

The Government of Malawi introduced bursary scheme in 2001 in order to enhance access to secondary education, ensure retention and completion of secondary school education by orphans and vulnerable children. The purpose of the study was therefore to investigate why despite having government bursary scheme in place, there are still low access to secondary school by needy students, high levels of drop outs and low retention of bursary beneficiaries in rural community day secondary schools in Kasungu district. The study employed mixed methods research design. The study targeted 8 head teachers, 16 bursary committee members, 128 needy students of which 64 were bursary beneficiaries and 64 were non-beneficiaries. Data was generated through questionnaires, Focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and document review. Quantitative data was analyzed in a statistical package for social science (SPSS) by applying mostly descriptive statistics. Themes were developed according to the theoretical framework and research questions that guided the study. The study revealed that 82% of the needy students who apply for Government bursary scheme are unable to access bursary funds. It was also revealed that the bursary fund is not enough to cover school fees and there is always underpayment of the funds. Therefore, all bursary beneficiaries have huge fees balances each term and the balances cannot be cleared. Some beneficiaries spend a lot of school time at home due to fees problem and eventually drop out of school. The study then concluded that government bursary scheme enhances retention of bursary beneficiaries in community day secondary schools in Kasungu district to some extent. However, access to secondary education of needy students is not enhanced.

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School	: School of Education
Issued Date	: 2019

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