International Journal of Education and Research Vol. 3 No. 3 March 2015 243 AN ASSESSMENT OF SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES’ CAPACITY IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FPE FUNDS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS: A SURVEY OF ELDORET EAST DISTRICT, KENYA Faith J Kiprono, Mary Nganga and Dr Joyce Kanyiri ABSTRACT The introduction of Free Primary Education (FPE) in 2003 saw a shift in the functions of School Management Committees (SMCs) with emphasis shifting from collection of funds and provision of infrastructure to management of government funds and learning resources in the school (MOEST, 2003). The SMC is responsible for managing funds, settling disputes in the school and procurement. This study sought to assess the capacity of SMCs in implementation of FPE funds in public primary schools in Eldoret East District. The study was guided by the following objectives: To find out the capacity of school management committee members in the implementation of FPE funds and to establish the challenges of SMCs in the implementation of FPE funds in public primary schools. The study conducted a survey of public primary schools in Eldoret East district. Both probability and non-probability sampling methods were employed to select 200 respondents among the head teachers, senior teachers and members of school management committees. From the study findings Majority of the respondents cited the inability of the SMCs to implement devolved FPE funds while at the same time lacking accounting skills and lack of personal continuous development and training. Key Words: school management committees’ capacity, FPE funds INTRODUCTION The international commitments to Education for All (EFA), and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, came up with significant efforts, primarily through reducing direct costs to parents, to increase primary school enrolment. Developing countries and their partners increased efforts to improve the efficient and proper use of public funds – reducing Waste, mismanagement and leakage. The management of primary education in much of Africa Since then has been subject to structural changes intended to bring it closer to the ‘user’, and to give citizens at the local Level (particularly parents) a greater stake in management. The goal is to increase accountability, oversight and responsiveness. The new administrative and fiscal arrangements, in line with the Dakar Framework for Action of Education for All (EFA), have placed more responsibilities on regional, district, communal and school level authorities to work together to reach the EFA targets. One of the reasons for promoting this decentralization is the hope that by bringing the resources and decision making processes closer to parents and communities, it will strengthen governance, and the resources available for primary education will be better used (Antonowicz et al., 2010). Winkler and Gershberg, (2003) noted that decentralization of government is one of the reforms gaining ground in Africa. In search of greater accountability and more efficient service delivery, several countries are creating or recreating elected local governments and transferring to them