Factors contributing to school drop out in public secondary schools in Mombasa District, Kenya

Abstract

Since independence in 1963, secondary education in Kenya has expanded rapidly despite the unending setbacks to its access. The government of Kenya has always endeavored to improve access to and retention of students in secondary schools but the problem of wastage through school dropouts has continued to persist. This study sought to establish the factors which contribute to dropouts in public secondary schools in Mombasa district.

The factors investigated included cost of education (both direct and indirect), parents economic activities, school characteristics including physical facilities, teacher resource, discipline, school type, and category family background which included parents standard of living, parents level of education and gender discrimination and finally the effects HIV/AIDS pandemic on school dropouts in Mombasa District.

The targeted population included head teachers and students. The sample included 9 head teachers of which 8 responded and 315 students. The 9 schools included I provincial school and 8 district schools of which 3 were mixed day, 2 were girls day, 2 were boys day and I boys boarding and day.

There were two questionnaires for head teachers and students. The research design used for the study was descriptive survey. The research instruments were used to collect information on economic factors, school characteristics, family background and HIV/AIDS pandemic.

After the data collection, analysis was done using SPSS for the headteachers questionnaires while students questionnaires were analyzed manually. The findings were summarized and represented in tables showing frequencies and percentages.

The research findings indicated that lack of school fees, cost of education, family background mainly parents standard of living as indicated by 75% of the head teachers and drug abuse as indicated by 52.4% of the students contributed to school dropouts to a great extent.

Recommendations included strengthening guidance and counseling, free or subsided secondary education, fair allocation of bursaries, reduced school fees, affordable school fees, payment of school fees in installments and sponsorship of the needy students. Parents too should encourage their children to continue with secondary education.

Finally suggestions for further research were given such as study based on gender disparity and a comparison of public and private secondary schools dropout rates.