Effects of fishing activities on retention rates among students in public day secondary schools in Kisumu County, Kenya
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Date
2022-07
Authors
Owiyo, Ogalo Yonah
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
The study aimed at establishing how retention rates among students in public day secondary schools in Kisumu County which has five sub counties namely Kisumu, Muhoroni, Nyakach, Nyando and Seme all affected by fishing activities. Comparably, Seme Sub County also has the highest number of school dropout rates according to statistics from the County Education Office, Kisumu. Specifically, the study sought to find out the effect of fishing activities on the retention rates of learners in public day secondary schools and establish strategies being undertaken to improve retention rates among learners in public day secondary schools from fishing backgrounds. It was guided by socio-ecological theory. This study adopted a descriptive research design that permitted description of the behaviour of study subjects without influencing them and targeted a population of 7373 respondents comprising of 25 Public Day Secondary Schools principals, 240 teachers, 6569 students from form one to form four, 12 County Education Officers and 402 parents. Fischer formula was utilised to compute a sample size of 384 respondents who was selected through proportionate stratified sampling and purposively sampling methods. The study used semi-structured questionnaires and interview schedules to collect data from principals, teachers and students. A pilot study was conducted on 5% of the sample size, validity was established through expert judgement while reliability of the study instruments was established through Cronbach test. Analysis of quantitative data used descriptive statistics with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23.0 to calculate for frequencies and percentages. Thematically with the guidance of objectives of the study, triangulation of the results was done with questionnaires’ quantitative findings. The study established that involvement of learners in fishing activities has various negative effects in their education that included not attending school and poor participation; there are several other factors related to fishing that influence retention of learners in public day secondary schools that contribute to low retention in schools; and most schools are moderately conducive for learners from fishing communities and that learner in Seme Sub County attach special value to being in school. The study recommended that there is need for parents to avoid allowing their children to take part in fishing activities at the expense of schooling as this impedes their focus in learning; parents need to understand that all students need to concentrate on school work rather than being engaged in the fishing business that can affect their education; the government should beef up surveillance on people who engage students in immoral behaviour such as sexual engagement and drug trafficking. There is also need for the government to take serious action against parents who engage school going students in fish business as this is considered a form of child labour and learners should be made aware of values of education so that they can put more effort in learning.
Description
A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of master of education in sociology of education and policy studies of Kenyatta University, July, 2022