Causes and effects of students' unrest in Rachuonyo District

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate causes and effects of student' unrest in Rachuonyo District. The study was prompted by recent spates of student unrests in the district. Attempts to curb the unrests by education, stakeholders, the community and the government have not yielded any success. The study begins by pointing out students' unrest as a problem affecting learning institutions at international levels, and national level with particularly reference to Kenya secondary schools. The research methodology was descriptive survey method. The research instruments included interviews and questionnaire. These instruments were used to gather data for the study. Data were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The results are presented in tables of frequency distributions and percentages. The findings of the study indicate that popular views of students, teachers, Board of Governor (BoG) members, that the causes of students' unrests were poor administration, inadequate internal and external politics and drug abuse. The respondents attributed the effects of students' unrests to teaching staff demotivation, exorbitant school levies, under enrolment, falling academic standards, poor performance in examinations, school dropouts through jail, expulsion and punishment. Teachers transfers are also featured in the findings. The study has made many recommendations towards curbing causal factors of students' unrests. The recommendations include better remuneration for teachers, promotion and effective guidance and counselling services in schools. These recommendations and others are presented in chapter five.