Effects of free primary education on pupils' perfomance in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in public primary schools in Lari district, Kenya

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to establish the effects of Free Primary Education (FPE) on pupils' performance in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in public primary schools in Lari District. The need for the study emanated from the realization that most public primary schools in the District had been performing poorly in KCPE over the years. Specifically, the study investigated the effect of FPE on enrolment, the effect of physical facilities on KCPE performance, the effect of availability of teachers on KCPE performance and the effect of teaching/learning resources on KCPE performance.

The study was conducted using survey design. A sample of 31 head teachers and 155 teachers from Lari District was picked to participate in the study. Data was collected using Questionnaires. Out of the 186 questionnaires distributed, 181 were returned (97%). Instrument validity and instrument reliability were tested through piloting in two schools that were not included in the sample. Split half method was used to test reliability. Stratified simple random sampling and purposive sampling methods were used to obtain respondents. The study used Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programme to analyze the data, and descriptive statistics were used to present data. This was in form of frequencies and percentages.