Academic program diversity, unit costs and economies of scale in public secondary schools in Kenya

Economies of scale are an economic phenomenon in economics of education that is used to justify expansion in school enrolment and management of school finances. The relationship between scale and efficiency becomes more complicated when schools are required to offer different academic programs and subjects, particularly academic programs that differ substantially in their staffing, infrastructure and instructional resource requirements. This study examined the relationship between academic program provision and economies of scale in public secondary schools in Bungoma County, Kenya. The study was guided by the classical economies of scale theory. The study adopted an embedded mixed-methods design, integrating quantitative and qualitative evidence from public secondary schools in Bungoma County. The target population was 376 principals of public secondary schools and the County Director of Education of Bungoma County. Stratified sampling was used to obtain a sample size of 194 principals of public secondary schools and the county director of education. The response rate for principals was 93.3% (181 principals). Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis across different secondary school categories. Qualitative data was generated through interviews with school principals and the county director of education, and analyzed thematically. The study examined academic program related expenditure, unit costs, academic program scaling decisions and the relationship between program provision and public secondary schools cost structures. Academic programs expenditure varied substantially across schools, ranging from KSh. 78.95 to KSh. 7,427.34 per student, with a mean of KSh. 1,131.50 and Standard deviation of 1,190.41. Further, 82.9% of schools reported reducing academic programs because of budgetary constraints. Regression results showed statistically significant positive relationships between program-related expenditure per student and unit cost across extra-county (B = 0.266, t=2.432, p = 0.015), county boarding (B = 1.593, t=2.510, p = 0.004), county day/boarding (B = 0.611, t=3.919, p = 0.001), and sub-county schools (B = 0.200, t=3.803, p = 0.004). Qualitative evidence explained these relationships in terms of specialized staffing, laboratories, equipment, instructional materials and low enrolment in particular academic program. Smaller secondary schools were especially vulnerable to high academic program costs because fixed and semi-fixed costs were distributed across relatively few learners. The findings challenge the assumption that expanding academic programs necessarily produces economies of scale. Academic program diversity can improve educational opportunity, but it can also raise unit costs when academic program expansion is not matched by adequate enrolment, funding and resource capacity. Economies of scale in public secondary education are therefore academic program-specific and dependent on a school rather than automatic consequences of school growth. This study argues for differentiated financing, flexible program implementation and resource-sharing mechanisms that allow smaller and less-resourced secondary schools to provide meaningful curricular opportunities without creating unsustainable cost burdens.