Influence of drug abuse on students performance in Kenya certificate of secondary examinations in public schools in Tetu sub-county,Nyeri county,Kenya

Abstract

The study was on influence of drug abuse on students‟ performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination (KCSE) in public secondary schools in Tetu Sub-county, Nyeri County, Kenya. Students‟ performance in KCSE has been influenced by abuse of various drugs which include alcohol, marijuana, tobacco and miraa. The study was guided by the following objectives; to determine how alcohol,miraa, marijuana, and tobacco influence students‟ performance. The study was based on Skinner‟s operant conditioning theory/principles which states that organisms behave but they do not behave haphazardly, and that behavior is influenced by its outcome. The study used descriptive survey research design because it administered questionnaire and interview schedule to collect data. The targeted population was 31 public secondary schools consisting of 31 principals, 465 teachers and 940 students. Stratified sampling was used to select ninety three teachers, ninety four students and nine principals for the sample. Data was analyzed by use of qualitative and quantitative techniques. The study used Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) IBM version 20 to analyze data. The analyzed data was then presented through tabular representation of frequency tables. The major findings show that majority of the students had been influenced by drug abuse. The commonly abused drug was alcohol as reported by all respondents sampled for the study.The principals indicated that kuber was commonly abused drug in the study locale. The findings revealed that drug abuse was an issue in secondary schools since all the respondents indicated that drugs had an influence on students‟ performance. The study made recommendations that should be put in place in order to improve students‟ performance in the SubCounty. These were: Guidance and counseling sessions to be increased and strengthened in schools in order to eradicate or reduce drug abuse among students and be encouraged to concentrate in their academic pursuits. The county government in conjunction with school administration to reinforce law regarding drug and substance abuse