Human Resource Factors Influencing Pupils’ Performance In Kenya Certificate Of Primary Education In Thika West District, Kiambu County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

The implementation of free primary education in Kenya gave rise to many problems that the government had not anticipated which affected the quality of education it was meant to improve. The teacher-pupil ratio remains too high in public schools (Too, 2004). The study sought to establish the HR factors influencing academic performance in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in Thika west district. The study used descriptive research design. The target population was all the pupils, teachers and head teachers in the 27 public and private primary schools in Thika West District. The study mainly targeted 9923 pupils and 329 teachers and 27 head teachers. The study sample size was 300 respondents. The study used stratified sampling technique to come up with the sample size. The study used questionnaire for data collection and data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. From the findings, it was established that the teacher: pupil ratio is very high (1:100) which negatively affect the quality of education. The study found out that taking higher education and training, refresher courses and on-the-job-learning were the most significant aspect of staff development. The study also established that teacher‟s experience affect the academic performance in KCPE to a great extent. The study further established that teachers‟ preparedness influence the academic performance in their school to a great extent. There is a "strong relationship between teachers' educational beliefs and their planning, instructional decisions, and classroom practices‟. The study also established that the personal character and attitude of teachers did not influence the academic performance in KCPE. From the findings the study concludes that, the majority of schools have a high teacher: pupil ratio of 1:100 which negatively affect the quality of education to a great extent. With regard to staff development, the study concludes that taking higher education and training, refresher courses and on-the-job-learning is the most significant aspect to be explored to enhance academic performance. The study also concludes that teacher‟s experience affect the academic performance in KCPE to a great extent. The study also concludes that teachers‟ preparedness influence the academic performance in their school to a great extent. The study further concludes there is a "strong relationship between teachers' educational beliefs and their planning, instructional decisions, and classroom practices‟, „teachers' feelings of preparedness are one important indicator of the extent. The study also concludes that the personal character and attitude of teachers did not influence the academic performance in KCPE in their school. The study recommended that the government should recruit teachers proportional to the number of enrolled student to safeguard the quality of education offered in public schools. In addition, teachers and head teachers should undergo further training to help them cope with the increased enrollment after the implementation of FPE. The study recommends that government and other stakeholders should explore into investing in facilitating higher education and training, refresher courses and on-the-job-learning for teachers to enhance academic performance in KCPE. Since it was found that teachers‟ preparedness influence the academic performance in school to a great extent, the study recommended that the ministry of education should review the curriculum being used in teacher training institutions with a view of making it more student friendly.