Disparities in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education Performance in Public Primary Schools in Miriga Meru Division, Imenti North District, Meru County, Kenya

Abstract

The prime objective of FPE by the Narc government was meant to improve access and retention in primary schools hence achieving universal primary education goals. It is hoped that FPE will translate to high rates of access to secondary and higher education. This is because education is the backbone of social economic development ·of every country. Education reduces poverty and improves health and nutrition of people UNESCO, 2003. It is for this reason the government of Kenya and other developing countries allocated much of their resources to education after independence. This has led to remarkable growth of educational institutional world wide. Kenya, earning a good secondary school place requires high grades. In the recent years and up today, private primary schools continue to perform better compared to the counter parts in public primary schools. This has made many parents transferred their children from public primary schools for search of better performance. This study intended to find out the factors that influence academic performance at KCPE level in Miriga Mieru Division. It would help the pupils to have better academic achievements, the home family would contribute positively for better performance in academics, the finings would also help the schools to contribute positively towards academic performance and to propose measures that would be used to improve academic performance in K.C.P.E. in tiie division. This would be based on effective school model by Leotte, (2001) which has it, that good performance among the learners are as a result of strong instructional leadership, clear and focused mission; safe and orderly schools eliminate and high expectation for success, frequent monitoring of students progress, encouraging home- school relationship and opportunity to learn the task. The study employed descriptive survey design. The study population were private and public primary school head teachers, standard 8 and 7 pupils and teachers in Miriga Mieru Division, Imenti North Constituency Meru county. The study randomly picked 4 head teacher, 16 teachers and 0 pupils from 2 public schools and 2 private schools. Headteachers were interviewed to collect the data while data from pupils were collected using questionnaire. Before the actual data collection, the questionnaire were piloted from selected samples similar to actual sample that was included in study. The study accessed the reliability by having educational experts who analyzed constituency. Data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative were obtained from the open ended item in both pupils and teacher question. The data were grouped in different categories depending the resources given by the respondents which helped in establishing themes based on research objective. Quantitative data were obtained from the qualitative coded and entered in computer. For the purpose of this study, academic performance was measured through examination results in the previous 4 years. The findings of study are useful in providing fieldwork in community, in order.for the pupils to enhance their academic performance in public and private primary schools. They should be assisted to appreciate the importance of pupils related factors notably reading, note taking habits, learning of subjects and preparation for examination strategies as determinants of their academic success in subsequent years of study.