A Rapid Appraisal of Poor Educational Performance in Selected Secondary Schools in Navakholo Constituency, Kenya

Abstract

Educational performance at any level of learning is a multi-variate function influenced by various factors such as access and enrolment to schools, ability to keep students in school till completion, actual academic coughing and holistic guiding and counselling of the learners. Educational performance in Navakholo constituency in Kenya has been on a decline during the past five to ten years. This observation was the gist of this study with the hope that insights from the research would help reverse the trend. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire administered to 170 boys and girls from two schools purposively sampled as they largely represent the outlook of most of the schools in the constituency. Results showed that other factors rather than access, enrolment and retention are responsible for poor performance in national examinations. Limited academic mentorship, inadequate learning resources, internal school culture and student-related challenges were particularly singled out. A multi-stakeholder and integrated approach is necessary toward enhancing student completion and performance in their studies. This paper discusses specifics in this regard