Improvement of internal efficiency of primary school education in Kandara division, Murang'a south district Kenya
Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The government has undertaken many reforms in the education sector since independence. The reforms are aimed at addressing both the overall goals of national economy recovery strategy as set out by the government and international commitment, which includes, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education For All (EFA). The rational for those reforms has been to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness in resource utilization. The purpose of this study was to assess on improvement of Internal Efficiency of primary school education in Kandara Division, Murang'a South District Kenya. The research attempted to give possible suggestions on how to improve Internal Efficiency in Primary school education. Educational administrators in both developed and developing nations are faced with various management challenges in the provision of primary education (Colchough and Lewin, 1993) (The international Encyclopedia of Education, 1994). The Kenya government also falls in that category as depicted in the failure to sustain EPI, when it was first introduced in 1974 (Sifuna, 1990). High levels of poverty among households and the introduction of cost sharing policy led to premature withdrawal of students from primary school. Even with the introduction of FPE in 2003, no major educational reforms had been put in place to ensure UPE by 2005 and EFA by 2015. Lack of such policies contributes to low internal efficiency in primary education. \nThe target. Population of the study was 80 public and private primary schools, in Kandara Division, Murang'a South District. A total of 16 sample primary schools were selected by random sampling from the five existing Zones. This formed 20% of the total schools population. Gay 1983 cited by Mugenda & Mugenda (1999) suggest that for descriptive studies, 10 - 20% of the accessible population is enough. From each selected school, the headteacher and 3 teachers were targeted for the study yielding 16 headteachers and 48 teachers. Students were randomly selected from lower and upper classes. In lower classes the study targeted class III and from upper, class VI and VIII were selected. From each class 10 students were randomly selected, so a total of 30 students was sampled from each sample school yielding 480 students. In addition to the above respondents , zonal inspectors from each zone were interviewed. Two main tools were prepared to collect data. A pilot study was done to establish the validity and reliability of the research instruments. The study adopted descriptive research design utilizing both qualitative and quantitative approach. Data analysis was done through organizing the data and tabulating in frequency tables and percentages. The study found out that schools were understaffed and had inadequate facilities to cater for improvement of internal efficiency. Research findings further indicated that parents neglected to monitor their children's school going activities. From the findings of the study, the researcher recommended that the government should; ensure no understaffing in schools and organize in service courses for headteachers on school management; provide more funds to ensure there are enough facilities in classrooms (desk, bench , blackboard) and utility provisions (drinking water and toilets); declare compulsory primary education to ensure all primary school age children are enrolled at school and also launch public awareness campaigns regarding the problem of dropout and ensure parental co-operation for completion of primary cycle of education.
Author: Sarah Njeri Mungai
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W603820526