Contribution of Microfinance credit on affordability of education of children of the rural women in Keiyo North District, Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya

This paper examines the contribution of microfinance credit on affordability of education of the children of the rural women, based on study findings from a survey done in Keiyo North district in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya. A descriptive survey design was used and data was collected using questionnaire. The data generated was analyzed qualitatively by way of frequencies and percentages. Data was analyzed using chi-square ?=0.05 significance level. The study involved 130 rural women participating in KWFT microfinance credit programme in Keiyo North district. Simple random sampling was used to select 130 respondents from a population of 220 rural women. The study found out that microfinance credit programme had contributed to the rural women being able to afford the education of their children. All the rural women indicated that microfinance credit programme had generated money used by the rural women to educate their children. Although the contribution varied among individual members of the group, the contribution ranges between Kshs. 15,000 to above 90,000. In addition, none of the rural women reported that their children did not go to school because of lack of school fees. On the basis of the findings, the researcher recommends that KWFT should encourage more women to participate in the microfinance credit programme within the district in order to improve the education standards of their children.