| dc.description.abstract | The study set out to establish factors influencing the attendance and participation of pupils in
public primary schools in Yatta District, Machakos County, Kenya. The objectives of the
study were to establish the extent to which availability of food in schools influences
attendance and participation among pupils in Primary schools in Yatta District, Machakos
County, to determine the influence of health status of a pupil on attendance and participation
in Primary schools in Yatta District, Machakos County, to establish the influence of the level
of household income on attendance and participation among pupils in Primary schools in
Yatta District, Machakos County and to investigate the influence of home social support on
attendance and participation among pupils in Primary school in Yatta District, Machakos
County. Attendance and participation of pupils in primary schools is an important factor in
school success. Most interventions on attendance and participation in primary school fail to
target what actually influences the decision of the pupils to absent themselves from schools.
More than half the children aged 3-5 years in Machakos County are not attending preschool
with learning levels in the county being lower than the national average. 13% of pupils are
absent from school on any given day. Most interventions targeting absenteeism focus on the
consequences rather than the root causes. The study was conducted as a descriptive survey
research design. The target population was 62,500 primary school pupils and 1,000 teachers
of 175 public primary schools in Yatta District, Machakos County. Primary school pupils and
teachers were chosen as the population for this study since they possess vital information on
the attendance and participation of pupils in class. Further, both were more likely to grasp the
questions posed and answer them appropriately. Sample size was determined by use of
Fischer equation (n=Z2pq/e2). Systematic random sampling was used in this study to
determine the 25 schools that participated in the study whereas Simple random sampling was
employed to determine the 175 pupils and 100 teachers that participated in the study.
Questionnaires were pre-tested at Matuu Holy Ghost Memorial Primary school, Yatta
District, Machakos County. Data was collected by the researcher over a period of four weeks
by the use of self-administered questionnaires which were given to the sampled participants
after reading out the letter of introduction to them. This was done after authority was granted
by the administration of Yatta district. Use of PASW (Predictive Analysis Software)
Statistics 18 was employed for data analysis. The key findings were that social factors such as
availability of food in school, pupil’s health condition, level of household income and
availability of parent(s)/guardian(s) support significantly influence the attendance and
participation of pupils in public primary schools in Yatta District, Machakos County.
Recommendations were that Interventions targeting the adoption of school feeding
programme in schools school be encouraged in public primary schools as they would
motivate enrolment, attendance and participation of pupils. Sensitization for both parents and
pupils on the importance of achieving and maintaining good health should be encouraged as
this would ensure there is minimum interference with the attendance patterns of pupils and
parents should also be encouraged to show concern about the academic progress of their
children through seminars and sensitization sessions aimed at equipping them with the
requisite knowledge and expertise for good parenting. Moreover, poverty eradication efforts
need to be stepped up in both urban slums and rural areas as poorer households are more
likely to have poor attendance and participatory patterns of pupils compared to richer
families. Further studies on this topic are recommended. | en |
