Educational Management

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    Selected students and institutional based factors influencing internal efficiency of postgraduate studies in public and private universities in kenya
    (Chuka University, 2024) Komen Kibet
    Higher education contributes to national development by generating both human and economic capital. In Kenya, the higher education sector has experienced significant growth, marked by an increase in the number of public and private universities, with a primary focus on enhancing access, quality, and relevance in response to labor market demands. Despite these efforts, the enrollment rate in higher education remains low, with high dropout and low completion rates for doctoral and master’s degrees, indicating substantial levels of wastage. This study aimed to establish the influence of selected student and institutional factors on the internal efficiency of postgraduate studies in public and private universities in Kenya. It was guided by the production function theory and human capital theory. The study employed descriptive and correlational research designs. The target population was 84,983 respondents, comprising 49 graduate school directors, 3,835 academic staff, and 81,099 postgraduate students. Proportionate and simple random sampling methods were used to select 398 respondents, consisting of 15 directors, 90 academic staff, and 293 students. Data were collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. A Likert scale was utilized for closed-ended questions, and interview schedules were used to gather data from graduate school directors. Data from academic staff and postgraduate students were collected via questionnaires. The research instruments were subjected to reliability and validity tests before use. Content, face, and construct validity were confirmed before administering the instruments. A pilot study was conducted in two universities to determine the reliability coefficient of the instruments using Cronbach’s Alpha, resulting in an average reliability coefficient of 0.812, which exceeded the 0.7 threshold, indicating that the instruments were reliable. The data were cleaned, sorted, and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0. Hypotheses were tested using simple linear regression at α = 0.05. The study findings revealed that the cost of postgraduate programs, student characteristics, physical facilities, and academic staff characteristics influenced the internal efficiency of universities in Kenya. The study recommends that the government increase funding for higher education and make financial resources available in a manner similar to the sponsorship model used for undergraduate programs. Additionally, universities should be equipped with the necessary facilities, including fully functional libraries, suitable laboratories for teaching and learning, and reliable Internet connectivity. The study further suggests improving the management of research and instruction by enhancing oversight and recruiting sufficient, competent faculty members. Lastly, it advises prospective postgraduate students to balance their social and academic lives by choosing a study model that fits their schedules and effectively managing their time, priorities, roles, and responsibilities.
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    Influence of selected social-economic factors on retention and academic achievement among pupils in public day primary schools in Isiolo county, Kenya
    (Chuka University, 2020-12) Muchunku, Jackson
    In Kenya, retention and academic achievement of children in primary schools has remained a major challenge. There has been low retention rates and low academic achievement in public primary schools in Isiolo County. Empirical data showing the factors influencing retention and academic achievement of pupils in public day primary schools in Isiolo County are unavailable. The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of selected socio-economic factors influencing retention and academic achievement among pupils in public day primary schools in Isiolo County. The objectives of this study were to: determine the influence of household income, establish the influence of education of parents, determine the influence of parental occupation and, establish the influence of family environment on retention and academic achievements of pupils in public day primary schools, in Isiolo County. This study used Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory. This study used a correlation design that adopted both quantitative and qualitative techniques for testing the pupils, teachers and education officers’ questionnaires respectively. The population of the study consisted of 4142 respondents comprising of 546 standards seven teachers, 3594 standard seven pupils and 2 education officers in Isiolo County. The study used both purposive and simple random sampling methods. The sample size was 242 pupils, 110 teachers and 2 education officers, totalling to 354. The data for this study was collected using questionnaires for teachers and pupils and an informant interview for education officers. Content validity was used to test whether the questionnaires were measuring what they were supposed to measure and were ascertained through the help of the supervisors of this study. Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient was used to compute the reliability. This study used both descriptive – mostly in the likert scale, rating by teachers and pupils on how independent variables were influencing dependent variables and inferential statistics (multiple linear regression) to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics included frequencies, means, and percentages to analyze the data. Inferential statistics was used to infer sampled data from the population before drawing conclusions. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 aided in data analysis. To determine the influence of selected socio-economic factors on retention and academic achievement, the study used multiple linear regressions, which was used to test the hypotheses. From the findings, it was found that environmental factors household income, parental education level and parent occupation has positive significant influence on both retention and academic achievement. The recommendation originating from the findings of the study is that the government should increase the allocation for free primary education to ease economic burdens for the parents, education should be enhanced through the adult and continuing education to enhance their levels of education. There is urgent need to support and provide necessary resources to enhance family structure, parent's attitude and expectation, home environment like family types and language used at home. This can be done through seminars and meetings organized by the school community on the same. The beneficiaries will be pupils in day primary schools in Kenya, Teachers in the public day primary schools will know how to re-organize their lessons in order to help the pupils more, Education officers will be able to know which areas they will put more emphasis in their routine visits to schools, the Non-governmental bodies together with donors will know where to come to help the pupils with financial problems.