Home Based Factors Affecting The Academic Performance Of High School Girls In In Kenya In Machakos Sub County.

Abstract

The main aim of all girls once they are enrolled at high school is usually to excel, however they encounter certain hindrances that interfere with their desired academic outcome. Based on the available data on academic outcome, girls academic performance at Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in almost all the subjects offered has been low in Machakos Sub County raising a great concern. However, the major factors attributed to this trend of girls’ academic performance have not been clearly understood by various stakeholders in the education sector, therefore limiting the ability of educational stakeholders to put in place measures and facilitate the formulation of policies aimed at improving girls’ performance at KCSE. The purpose of this study was to investigate the household aspects that have a bearing on girls’ educational performance at high school in Machakos Sub County. A descriptive research design was adopted in the study to establish the influence of parental-level of education on girl student performance, as well as determine the correlation between family income and girl student performance and examine the influence of family structure on girl student performance in Machakos Sub County. Teachers at management level were purposively sampled because they are instrumental in the implementation of the curriculum and supervision. The study adopted purposive sampling where the girls who participated in the study were sampled using stratified sampling technique by randomly picking ten girls in all classes in each school. A total of thirty students from every school were chosen. The figure of thirty students was used to ensure validity of the data. The study participants included; Class leaders, school prefects and top performers. A total of 210 students and 70 teachers from 7 schools were therefore selected to take part in the study. T Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 23.0 computer software was used by the researcher in the process of data analysis. The data was then presented in frequency tables, bar graphs and pie charts to answer the research objectives and questions in relation to the research topic. Findings revealed that socio-economic and socio-cultural factors affected academic performance of girls in the Sub County. It also revealed that school based factors like teacher shortage among others contributed to poor academic performance among girls. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that home-based factors such as size of the family, family economic and social status as well as household chores affected girls’ performance in the KCSE examination. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the schools should be provided with the needed facilities and resources to facilitate the learning process for girls. It was also recommended that education should be provided to communities on the importance of educating girls as well as sensitized on the general importance of education.