Shadow Education System: Demand for Private Supplementary Tuition in Public Secondary Schools in Municipality Division, Kakamega South

Abstract

This study investigated the factors that influence demand and practice of private supplementary tuition in public secondary schools in Municipality Division, Kakamega South District. The descriptive survey design was used and data collected using questionnaires and an interview schedule. The population consisted of 4 public secondary schools. Sample used in this study comprised of 4 principals, 170 students and 32 teachers making a total of 206 respondents. Data analysis was based on the research questions and hypotheses and responses in the questionnaire tabulated, coded, processed and analysed using of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programme and presented in tables, graphs and pie charts. The raw data obtained from the questionnaires was coded and scored appropriately. The means, standard deviations, Skewness and kurtosis were computed for all scores and the z-test at 0.05 level of significance used to test the hypotheses on the study. ,The Chi-Square, test for goodness of fit for one way classification was used to test the null hypothesis (HoS) involving teachers job satisfaction at 0.01 level of significance in the likert scale The responses on open-ended questions and interview were reported by descriptive narrative. The findings indicate that there is high demand and practice of private supplementary tuition in Municipality Division of Kakamega South District. The study revealed that there was significant relationship between household factors, school-based factors, private rates of returns to education, students' attributes, teachers' job satisfaction and economic factors and demand for private supplementary ration in the study area. The study revealed that provision "of extra tuition is faced by problems such as poor payment extra tuition fees, absenteeism among students during extra tuition, lack of knowledge and understanding by stakeholders, shoddy job by teachers and students during these sessions, difficulty in motivating teachers, principals not being empowered to supervise teachers during extra tuition sessions and principals lacking powers to plan and direct teachers to work In light of the findings of the study, the study recommends that parents and teachers should ensure that all students attend extra tuition sessions thus curbing absenteeism, extra tuition should be provided free and if possible be subsidised by the government, parents should be sensitize on the need to help students study on their own and that teachers should be properly rewarded during normal school teaching as well as be reprimanded in case they deliberately did not perform to the required standards. The study also recommends that extra tuition fees should be detached from the normal school fees payment as way of ensuring equal participation, the government should not have imposed a blanket ban in extra tuition in schools since not all schools are well endowed in terms of infrastructure, personnel and facilities, the topic scopes of subjects in the curriculum should be reduced as they were very wide and that sciences and mathematics should be given more lessons and balance the number of lessons for humanities. The study finally suggests a similar research to be conducted using a larger population of public secondary schools in the whole of Kakamega South District as well as countrywide in order to elicit a more-accurate and representative perspective on factors influencing demand and practice of private supplement tuition and a similar study be carried out incorporating private schools so that comprehensive issues of private supplementary tuition can be identified.