Truant Behavior Disorder and its Impact on Academic Performance among Learners in Public Primary Schools in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

The aim of the study was to find out how truancy impacts on the academic performance of learners in selected public primary schools in Makadara Sub-County, Nairobi City County, Kenya. The objectives guiding the study include; finding out the characteristics and causes of truant behavior disorder as well as to find out the academic performance for such learners. The study also sought to find out the educational interventions programs put in place for these learners. This study was based on ecological theory of development by Urie Bronfenbrenner. The study population comprised all class six learners in 27 public primary schools. Sampling was done using stratified and simple random technique as well as purposeful procedures. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to obtain different categories of schools. The schools were stratified according to their social economic status where 5 schools were randomly picked. Purposive sampling techniques were applied to obtain number of learners with truant behavior from the school attendance register. The deputy head teachers from each of the selected school were also purposively sampled. Total number of respondents was 60 learners and 5 deputy head teachers. Questionnaires and learners archival records were used as the instruments of data collection and the same were tested during piloting in a school with characteristics similar to those of the schools sampled for this study. Secondary data was analyzed as per the themes. Simple descriptive statistics was used for this exercise which yielded frequencies and percentages. The key findings showed that family problems contributed greatly towards learners being truant. It was also found that ‘pockets of poverty’ schools were more affected by this behavior than ‘well to be’ schools. The study also found that most truant learners especially in low economic zones did not perform efficiently in their academics. The study recommends that stringent measures should be put in place urgently so as to address the problem of truancy among learners. The study also recommends special needs education approach as a strategy for minimizing the vice in the selected primary schools