| dc.description.abstract | This study was set out investigate the influence of church sponsorship on KCSE performance of church sponsored public secondary schools in Kisii Central District. Whereas secondary schools in Kisii are sponsored by churches and other Christian organizations, the performance is not satisfactory as observed in other schools sponsored by the same organization. Studies in the district indicate that, the communities tended to interfere with the running of schools. With such hostile school and community environment, academic performance of such schools is likely to be poor. This study was therefore set to investigate the influence of church sponsorship on KCSE performance of church sponsored public secondary schools in Kisii Central District, Kenya.
The expost facto research design was adopted in conducting the study where a sample of 58 head teachers, 3 sponsors and one district education officer were selected through purposeful sampling technique giving a total sample size of 62 respondents who were administered the questionnaires. A response rate of 79.6 percent was obtained which was deemed adequate for data analysis.
The data was analyzed using frequencies and simple cross tabulation in SPSS statistical package. From the study the following findings were obtained;
Sponsors are involved in the provision of financial support in church sponsored secondary schools; however, only 10 percent of the schools are provided financial support by the church sponsors. Those who provide financial support indicated that they do so through fundraising in the church to support specific initiatives in their schools. The initiatives supported include development of laboratories, libraries, stores, hostels, classroom, desks, and latrines, purchase of buses, computers and text books. This implies that majority of schools depend on government, stakeholders and tuition for fimding of teaching learning process.
Church Sponsors are also involved in provision of teaching learning resources in church sponsored secondary schools, it was established that, the sponsors contribute in the provision of a number of resources including, text books, computers, building of classrooms, among others. The sponsorship has significantly reduced the text book ratio from 1:3 to 1:2 and classroom ratio from 1 :50 to 1: 10.an indication that church sponsorship is very significant in secondary schools in terms of provision of resources.
church sponsors are involved in maintenance of the religious tradition and church doctrines, in the curriculum, Supervision and provision of advice to ensure religious education is well conducted in the schools, appointment of head teachers, Provision of guidance and counseling to students and in ensuring that the schools boards to enhance and maintain academic standards and discipline of the school. From the study it was evident that church sponsors of secondary schools have a part to play to ensure proper curriculum implementation for good KCSE results.
The head teachers indicated that conflicts arise during admission where the sponsors want students of poor grades to be admitted, hence compromising performance and in the interference of teacher transfers process as they favor faith or spiritual interest at the expense of teacher qualifications and experience. The same observation was agreed on by 50 percent of the sponsors while another 50 percent did not agree.
Lastly, it was established that the performance of the schools were significantly affected by the school category that is (boys, girls or mixed) school. Single sex schools either boys or girls' performance was not significantly affected and their performance was almost the same, however, the mixed school KCSE performance tends to be lower than when the schools are only boys or girls.
To conclude, the study established that sponsors playa critical role in fmancial support, provision of resources, curriculum implementation towards the performance of church sponsored schools in KCSE performance. However, conflicts arise when sponsors sneak. in personal interest that affects the smooth running of schools. There is need for cooperation from both sides, the school and the church to ensure spiritual nourishment doctrines are active, material resources are provided and a strong system of monitoring and evaluation is put in place to ensure learners are consistently assisted to learn. | en_US |
