Causes of low transition rates from primary school into secondary school in Kenya, a case study of Dagoretti constituency

Abstract

Secondary education has been described by many as being the most important level of education. The government of Kenya has over the years honored its commitment of increasing educational opportunities by increasing the number of secondary schools and by allowing creation of private secondary schools. The government has also initiated various efforts such as introduction of the secondary school bursary fund and scrapping off of secondary school tuition fees. Despite the government's many efforts statistics still show that transition rates from primary to secondary school remain low.

This study is therefore aimed at investigating the main causes of low transition into secondary school after students have completed their primary education. The study revealed from interviews with the primary school dropouts and from in-depth interviews with key informants that the main cause was lack of school fees due to low income levels. Other major factors were peer pressure, lack of support from parents and guardians and quality of the primary schools attended. To reduce the incidents of lack of transition recommendations were put forward such as effective implementation of policies set in place to increase enrollment into secondary schools.