| dc.description.abstract | The study focused on Factors Influencing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education
Examinations Irregularities in Rachuonyo South District, Homa Bay County, Kenya. In
Rachuonyo South District, cases of examination irregularities have been reported each year. In
2007, a school had the KCSE results of all its students cancelled because of irregularities, while
in the year 2012; a school had been banned from being an examinations centre because of
continued cases of examinations irregularities. The same year (2012), another school had the
results of its candidates cancelled because of irregularities in the examinations, KNEC, (2012). It
was therefore important to investigate factors influencing Kenya Certificate of Secondary
Education irregularities in Rachuonyo South District. The study was informed by the objectives,
that ranking of schools, wide secondary curriculum, administration of examinations; learning
facilities and competition for the limited university admission were some of the factors that lead
to examinations irregularities. These factors were assumed to be moderated by Kenya National
Examinations Council policies on examinations. The study was considered significant in
informing all the key participants in the field of education to adopt best examination
management practices to improve the quality of education in the country. The basic assumptions
on which the study was anchored were, that sample study would be representative of the target
population, data collection instruments would be valid and reliable and that the respondents
would be willing to give information objectively. A Survey research design was used as the
research design for this study. The target population included all head teachers of secondary
schools in Rachuonyo South District (64), all secondary teachers in the district (1200) and all
candidates of 2013 KCSE in the district (4200). The sample for the study included 56 head
teachers, 291 teachers and 291, candidates in Rachuonyo South District. Stratified simple
random sampling technique was employed to select respondents into the final sample. Data was
collected using questionnaire, which comprised of both open ended and closed ended items. To
improve the validity and reliability of the data collection instrument, piloting was done on the
instrument and changes made as necessary. The study established that ranking of schools, wide
secondary curriculum, and administration of examinations; learning facilities and competition for
the limited university admission had significant influence on examination irregularities. In the
research, it was recommended that similar studies be replicated in the entire nation to
collectively address issues of examination irregularities. | en_US |
