Education has remained the most crucial contributor to social, political and economic development of any nation

Abstract

Education has remained the most crucial contributor to social, political and economic development of any nation. The contribution of education to development has been re-iterated by many scholars. Todaro (2003) asserted that a country which is unable to develop the skills and knowledge of her people and utilize them effectively in national economy will be unable to develop anything else. The importance of secondary education in stimulating social economic development was emphasized by Psacharopolous and Woodhall, (1985) and Ayot and Briggs, (1992) who argued that enlightened labour force is crucial to economic development. This realization has created a high demand for secondary education especially in developing countries. For example it is projected that enrollment in Kenya’s secondary school is to grow by 115% from 0.9 million students in 2004 to 2.7 million by 2015 (KIPPRA, 2006). Kenya’s visionary plan of being industrialized by the year 2030 demands that a majority of the youth should be able to access secondary education as a component of basic education. However, the increasing demand comes at a time of rising diminishing resources due to poor economic growth and rising poverty levels among the household.