A Correlation between Hidden Educational Costs and Students’ Transition Rate in Public Boarding Secondary Schools in Kenya

Grade to grade transition in secondary education is a crucial element which enables students to advance to higher levels of learning. To achieve this milestone, countries, Kenya inclusive have engaged in enormous funding to the sector. Nevertheless, a worrying number of students who join secondary schools do not complete this level. This study was therefore set up to assess the correlation between hidden educational costs and student transition rate in public boarding secondary schools in Uasin GIshu County, Kenya. The Education Production Function model laid the theoretical framework for this study. This study used a Convergent Mixed Methods Approach. 34 heads of schools with 3,917 parents formed the target audience. All the 34 purposively selected principals and 362 parents acquired with the help of Yamane's Simplified formulae were included in the sample. Data was obtained through interview schedules, questionnaires, and content analysis of educational documents. Thematic analysis suited the qualitative data as inferential and descriptive statistics served for the quantitative data. The results of the study show that hidden costs of education predict student transition rates in public boarding schools. They make up to 36.5% of the variance. The cost of uniforms contributes the highest proportion (10.0%) while the motivation fee had the lowest effect (0.1%). This research indeed established that hidden educational expenditures have a statistically negative correlation with students’ transition rates in public boarding schools. This means that students’ transition rate is affected by the hidden costs of education. The study recommends the government prioritize prompt disbursement of funds allocated to schools to prevent principals from diverting the costs to students/parents, the principals to source school uniforms from well-wishers and sponsors to ease the cost obligation on parents and thus improve student transition and finally, a similar study should be replicated in private boarding secondary schools for triangulation