Influence of teacher training on the performance of students in mixed secondary schools in Gem District, Kenya

Abstract

The Kenyan system of education has become mainly examination oriented. This has made the education managers to be result-oriented in their management styles. After pre-service training, teachers have gone for various training programs. These have enhanced their effectiveness and improved student academic achievement. These are witnessed in the students’ achievements in terms of their performance. Many studies have shown a relationship between teacher training and their productivity. However they have not shown whether in actual sense teacher training influences students’ academic performance in KCSE examinations. This research project therefore aimed at establishing the influence teacher training has on students’ academic achievements in mixed public secondary schools in Gem District, Kenya. The general objective of this research project was to establish the influence teacher training has on students’ academic performance in mixed public secondary schools in Gem District, Kenya. The study employed descriptive survey design. The population of the study consisted of 107 teachers drawn from 20 schools. The study sampled these through stratified random sampling technique. There were two strata, namely, purely day and boarding cum day. The study largely used secondary data from the DQASO offices with some primary data collected from three schools whose records could not be traced. The performance indices were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including the mean scores and standard deviations for both trained and untrained teachers. The sample consisted of 58 trained and 49 untrained teachers, giving a total of 107. The study showed that training alone does not contribute much to the performance of students in Gem District. It confirmed that there are many untrained teachers in the district handling KCSE examination classes. The research project showed that there were high rates of teacher turnover. It was anticipated that the study findings will be significant to policy makers, school administrators, head teachers and assistant teachers in the district, Kenya and the world as a whole, by shedding light on the influence of training which can enhance students’ academic achievement. The findings may also form baseline information for future and further research. The study recommends that teachers should be professionally trained to enhance their productivity. This must not necessarily be at university and college levels. Teacher retention in a particular school is also necessary as frequent movement destabilizes the flow of study for students. More studies should be done on influence of teacher motivation on performance and how socio-economic, environmental and cultural factors affect performance.