Factors affecting performance in sciences in Ongata Rongai Division, Kajiado North District

Abstract

Students’ performance in science subjects in Ongata Rongai division has continued to be poor despite the rationale of teaching sciences and efforts made by various educational stakeholders to improve the students’ performance in the subjects. The factors causing this poor performance are not clearly known. It is on this basis that the research topic was chosen to help identify the factors influencing the students’ poor performance in sciences in Ongata Rongai division, so that necessary measures can be taken to improve the students’ performance in the subjects. The factors investigated in this study are the students’ attitude towards sciences, the science teachers’ qualifications, availability and use of science teaching and learning resources, the methods of teaching used, students’ discipline, student ambitions, absenteeism and the relationship between students’ performance in sciences and mathematics. Stratified sampling was used to select the schools to constitute the sample. Thus, three strata were used: a boy’s boarding public school, mixed public schools and mixed private schools. To select the school from the division, simple random sampling was used using lottery technique. One science teacher participated from each selected schools, simple random sampling by the lottery technique was used to select ten form four students from each of the six sampled schools. Information was collected from the sample by administering questionnaires. The questionnaires were administered with the help of the science teachers in the sampled schools. Tables and charts were used to organize and summarize the data collected. It was then analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistics