Factors influencing pupils’ mobility in public primary Schools in Sotik Division, Bomet county- Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing pupils’ mobility in public primary schools in Sotik division, Bomet Country-Kenya. The study sought to establish the effect of: schools’ performance in KCPE on pupils’ mobility in public primary schools in the division; distance from home to school on pupils’ mobility; teachers’ transfer on pupils’ mobility; schools’ policies on promotion of pupils between grades on pupils’ mobility and how the nature of parents’ occupation influence pupils’ mobility. The study was guided by Rational Choice theory by John Schott (Schott 2000).The study adopted descriptive survey design. Systematic random sampling was used to get 12head teachers, 37 teachers and 188 pupils. In addition, 40 pupils in two selected schools were selected for focused group discussion. The research instruments used in this study were interview guide, questionnaires, focused group discussion guide and observation checklist. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in tables and pie-charts. Correlation was used to make comparison between the number of repeaters and the basis of promoting pupils through end year examination cut mark. The findings of the research showed that schools’ performance in KCPE influence pupils’ mobility to a great extent, pupils are attracted to schools that do well in KCPE results. Grade repeating as one of the schools’ policies on promotion of pupils between grades influenced pupils’ mobility as pupils avoid embarrassment that comes with it. Pupils’ mobility to a great extent is associated with unstable parents’ occupations. The researcher recommends that the head teachers and teachers should work towards improvement of schools’ performance and that the MoE should formulate policies to stop grade repetition in schools. The researcher suggests that a similar study can be done on the effect of pupils’ mobility on their performance.