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The purpose of this paper is to examine household characteristics and schooling decisions in terms of enrollment and type of school in an urban setting in Nairobi.

The paper uses a cross‐sectional data set collected in 2005. The sample comprises 7,475 primary school‐aged children. A probit model was estimated to show what influences decisions at household level.

Analysis shows that different household and individual attributes motivate different decisions. A considerable proportion (40 per cent) of children from the poorest quintile attends non‐public schools compared to 34 per cent from the richest quintile. The findings reveal that better‐off households are more represented in the free primary education (FPE) programme. The predicted probability of a decision to attend a public school for a primary school‐age child increases as the household wealth increases.

The paper concludes that poorer households are least attending and may be excluded from free public schools.

The paper demystifies the notion that introduction of FPE in developing countries is a pro‐poor policy.

The management of secondary schools in Kenya has faced a number of challenges over the past few years. These challenges have been manifested in the many ways including lack of financial transparency, which culminate in unaffordable secondary schools fees. The aim of this paper is to present the findings of an investigation into the contribution of parents to the financial management of secondary schools in Kericho district of Kenya.

The study was exploratory in approach with a descriptive survey being used as a method of inquiry. A sample size of 30 (47 percent) was selected from 64 secondary schools in the district. From this sample, proportional sampling was then used to get seven provincial and 23 district schools into the sample. Purposive sampling was used to get the schools from each category and the respondents from each school into the sample. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to solicit information and perceptions from principals and students.

The findings of this study indicated that Principals and students perceived parental involvement in financial management as present to some degree in most schools. The results also indicated that parental involvement had positive influence on financial management outcomes. Since schools' finance is critical in school management outcomes, it is therefore important for education stakeholders to increase parental involvement.

Parental participation can have positive impacts on the processes of teaching and learning with active and frequent contacts between parents and school administration improving school's financial accountability and transparency. Participation will strengthen the partnership between parent teacher associations, community and school administration in addition to democratizing school governance.

Based on the findings of the study, parental involvement in the area of financial management is still low in the district. It was also noted that parental involvement greatly influenced the way finances in schools were managed. From these observations, parental levels of involvement in the area of school finances affect financial transparency in schools.

To report study findings on teaching effectiveness and feedback mechanisms in Kenyan universities, which can guide management in developing a comprehensive quality control policy.

The study adopted an exploratory descriptive design. Three public and two private universities were randomly selected to participate in the study. A random sampling procedure was also used to select 79 respondents to participate in the research. A questionnaire administered in all participating universities was the main instrument for data collection.

There was no clear university policy on the evaluation of teaching effectiveness, despite its importance in quality control. Student evaluation of teaching effectiveness (SETE) was found to be unreliable, although widely used where evaluation existed, without other evaluation support systems. Feedback from the evaluation, though crucial in professional improvement, was not made available to the respondents.

The study examined the evaluation of teaching effectiveness from the lecturers' perspectives. Further research may provide insights into the contribution of SETE to teaching effectiveness from the students' standpoint.

Use of a variety of evaluation tools (e.g. self, peer) rather than relying solely on SETE is necessary. Comprehensive and usable information may be provided for effective teaching. Universities should provide clear policy guidelines on quality control for faculties to develop multiple teaching effectiveness evaluation instruments.

Teaching evaluation is important in order to bring about an improvement in areas such as student achievement, and use of public funds or educational materials. The findings provide critical information for management decision making to assist universities to translate the resources at their disposal into learning outcomes.

To investigate the extent to which secondary schools practiced aspects of total quality management (TQM).

A cross‐sectional research design was used in this study. A sample of 300 teachers in a residential session during a school holiday provided their perceptions on the practice of TQM in their schools. Data were collected using a questionnaire.

Board of Governors and chairpersons in secondary schools are not providing the necessary leadership that would promote TQM practices necessary for schools' continuous improvement. However, some head teachers are providing the required leadership with a considerable number of school managements empowering their employees. The majority of schools are not committed to strategic quality planning, though they do promote human resource development initiatives.

The study relied on an accessible sample of practising teachers drawn from M.Ed and PGDE students on a one‐month residential session in a public University. There is likelihood that schools from all the regions of the country were not represented.

School management is expected to provide leadership that promotes TQM practices in order to achieve set objectives. Empowered employees participate in decision‐making and are capable of increasing the quality of learning. Strategic quality planning is important for the provision of quality services while human resource development is necessary in schools to motivate and realise the maximum potential from employees.

The study provides research information on the Kenyan education system and quantifies the extent to which it is being practiced.