The Effects Of Nomadic Lifestyle On Performance At KCSE

Abstract

This study is concerned with the effects of nomadic lifestyles on the performance of KCSE and Mathematics in particular. The people of North Eastern Province of Kenya, which is the target area of this research, are nomads. They move from place to place in search for pasture and water for their livestock. This adversely affects the performance of students in secondary schools. They take too long to trace for their families during the school holidays in order to sell some animals for fees. By the time they return to school, they are late for two weeks or even sometimes one month. The absence of more than two weeks every holiday accumulates to one term every year and one year and one term for the four years course. This means that by the time the students are doing their KCSE, they are equivalent to form three second term, hence the poor performance. The rough roads and unreliable transport also leads to opening the schools late and early closer, especially during the rainy season. The objective of this study is to relate the performance of KCPE and KCSE in Mathematics and suggest ways of improving teaching, learning and performance of the subject. It also looks into how the performance of an individual changes as one progress to higher levels. The data collection methods involved visit to the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) to obtain the mean scores of the subject for both KCPE and KCSE as well as questionnaires that were filled by form three and four students in schools. There were also questionnaires for the mathematic teachers. The data collected was fed into the computer and analyzed in terms of lifestyle, sex and form. The trend of the performance as one progress to higher levels and the negative attitude towards mathematics was clear from the data collected but there was no clear distinction between the performances of the different lifestyles. This is thought to be due to lack of seriousness of most schools in the beginning of the term. There is need for all stakeholders in education to join hands to improve the standards of education in nomadic communities. The finding of the study is expected to be useful not only to North Eastern Province where research was conducted but all areas that have similar situations.