| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of police career on academic
performance of their children. Various studies on the military and police have been
carried out in developed countries, but in Kenya, little has been done on police officers
and this necessitates this research. The five main objectives of the study were: to
investigate how the nature of police officers’ duties affects the academic performance
and aspirations of their children; to establish how police officers’ transfers affects the
academic performance and aspirations of their children; to determine how the police
officers’ poor housing affects academic performance and aspiration of pupils; to
investigate how lack of mentorship affects academic performance and aspirations of
police officers’ children, and lastly to establish the educational aspirations of police
officers children.
The study relied on primary data from questionnaires and secondary data from other
studies in understanding of the problem, Using a case study approach, data was
collected from 198 Class Seven and Eight pupils, the school head teacher, 12 teachers
of the sampled classes and 62 parents, from Utawala Academy School in Nairobi
County. Both open and close-ended questionnaires were used to collect qualitative and
quantitative information from the respondents. An interview guide was used to get
information from the head teacher. Collected data were analyzed using the Scientific
Package for Social Sciences program and presented in tables and frequencies. The
collected and analyzed data indicate that 98% of the respondents felt that police
officers’ transfer negatively impacted on pupils’ performance and aspirations followed
by poor housing and lack of mentorship at 72%. On the other hand, over 90% of the
police children had great aspirations in their academic and career aspirations even
though they were significantly lower compared to children of civil servants and noncivil
servants.
The study recommends that police officers’ duties be flexed in order to allow them to
take an active role in their children’s learning. In addition transfers for officers should
be well structured to avoid interfering with their children’s learning. The study also
recommends better housing for police officers. Finally, police officers should be
encouraged to take a more active role in bringing up their children for maximum
academic performance. It is recommended that a similar research at secondary level of
education should be carried out to establish the influence of police career on the children
of police officers. | en_US |
