Effects of teacher absenteeism on pupils’ kcpe performance in public and private primary schools in kitui central sub-county, kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of teacher absenteeism on pupils’ KCPE performance in public and private schools in Kitui Central Sub- County, Kitui County, Kenya. The research formulated four objectives. The first objective focused on the influence of teacher absenteeism on pupils’ academic performance. The second objective was to determine the influence of institutional responsibilities contribute to teacher absenteeism on pupils’ academic performance. The third objective was to determine the influence of teachers absenteeism caused by family responsibilities on pupils’ KCPE performance. The fourth objective tried to examine the influence of syllabus coverage due to teacher absenteeism on pupils academic performance. The review of related literature focused on the objectives of the study which presented scholar works on teachers absenteeism affecting pupils academic performance. Descriptive survey was employed in the study. A sample of 12 schools out of 57 public schools and 8 schools out of 12 private primary schools were selected for the study. 85 teachers from public primary school teachers and 125 private primary school teachers were the respondents. The instruments for the research were questionnaires for heat teachers and teachers. A pilot study was first conducted in two schools so as to test the validity and reliability of the instrument using a test-retest method. A correlation of 0.85 was obtained meaning the instrument was reliable and therefore the main study commenced. The questionnaire return rate was 84.5 percent which was considered satisfactory. Collected data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. From the study findings it was deduced that majority of teachers especially in public schools have a relationship with pupils academic performance to a large extent. Majority of the teachers (95.1 percent and 82.3 percent of teachers in public and private primary schools respectively) perceived that the teachers’ absenteeism due to family responsibilities influence the pupils’ likelihood to good performance at KCPE. The study found out that majority of the teachers indicated that syllabus coverage due to teachers absenteeism influence pupils KCPE performance. The study came up with the following recommendations: public primary school management should be encouraged to allow their teachers to keep clean record of attendance rates and also take strict disciplinary measures so as to discourage absenteeism. The government and other none-state actors should provide good financing schemes to facilitate for teachers needs so as to reduce the cases of teachers absenting themselves from school to go and carry out other businesses due to low remuneration. The researcher therefore suggested that a comparative study to investigate the teachers’ performance due to perennial absenteeism cases.