Factors influencing participation of students in public secondary schools in Marakwet District, Kenya

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to assess the factors influencing participation of students in public secondary schools in Marakwet district. The researcher's target population comprised of twenty six secondary schools in Marakwet district. The student sample was 'selected based on streams, gender, and class determined by random sampling. For the case of the students the study targeted 140 students. The main research instrument that was used in this study was the questionnaire. Data was analyzed qualitatively. Descriptive survey was employed and data presented in the form of frequency distribution tables, graphs and pie charts that facilitated description and explanation of the study findings. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) was used to generate frequency distribution tables. The study findings indicate that socio-economic factors had the highest effect in the participation of students in secondary school education. Socio-economic factors include poverty, low income level, inability of the parents to pay fee, cost sharing policies, provision of family labour and lack of basic needs. The study found out that socio-cultural factors such as early marriages, pregnancies and traditional culture were a major cause of low participation of secondary school students in secondary education. Also the findings revealed school based factors such as school environment, climate, drug abuse, indiscipline, teacher characteristics, forced repetition and uninteresting curriculum affected participation of students in secondary school tire. The study also concluded that the head teachers' flexible administrative policies and government granting of bursaries to secondary school students has gone a long way to enhance access, retention and completion rates. The findings recommended that there is need to enhance the economic situation of the people to enable them cater for the education needs of the children. The community should be sensitized on the importance of education to provide for the needed physical facilities for the schools. The researcher suggested areas for further research to include students in other districts to compare these factors, teacher related factors and the effect on their participation of secondary school students in the education cycle. The study recommends intervention and the implementation of an effective framework for participatory rural development that will ensure access and most importantly retention of students accessing secondary schools education.