| dc.description.abstract | Since the introduction of education in Kenya during the colonial era,
secondary school education has expanded despite pronounced set back to its
access. Students who enroll in secondary school drop out before the
completion of secondary school circle a situation culminating to wastage of
resources in time and space.
The study endeavors to determine the factors leading to drop out rates
in Kisumu district within Nyanza Province in Kenya.
Guided by research questions touching on areas such as, what IS the
relationship between the students socio-economic background and school
drop out, how unemployment among school leavers influence school drop
out rate, what effect the government policy of cost sharing has on school
drop, out attributes related to gender differences, economic background of
parents, the study worked to relate the variables to drop out from secondary
schools in Kisumu District.
The targeted population consisted of all students, teachers and
headteachers from secondary schools in the district. The sample consisted of
23 headteachers, 92 teachers and 190 students in the district chosen from a
cross section of 23 schools from the Provincial category, District, randomly
sampledfrom urban and rural set up, boarding and Day schools.
Three questionnaires and one interview schedule were used to gather
important data. The questionnaires elicited responses from the headteachers,
class teachers and students. The research design selected for the study was
expost facto. The research study assumed that there existed drop outs in the
secondary schools in Kisumu District as a result of cost sharing, gender
disparity, socio-economic status of parents and the school climate.
After the data collection, an analysis was carried out using statistical
measures such as frequencies, percentages, ranges, statistical programme for
Social Sciences (SPSS) from which bar graphs, table and pie charts
emanated explaining the relationship between variables.
The research study indicated a close relationship between drop out
emanating from influence of cost sharing, gender disparity, discouragement
from jobless school leavers and socio-economic status of parents.
Recommendations such as awarding of bursaries to needy students,
globalization versus curriculum relevance, monitoring entry behaviour of
students at form one, reducing cost of secondary school involvement of the
private sector and improving information, Computer Technology among
otherswere given, as means of eradicating the drop out problem.
Suggestions for further research are finally given, which include
among others the replication of such a study in another area or use of a
larger sample, and specific gender to assess the impact of all the mentioned
variables on the drop out rates of school students. | en |
