Influence of school infrastructural resources on secondary school students’ participation in co-curricular activities in Laikipia West Subcounty, Laikipia County, Kenya

Abstract

School experiences should involve classroom interactions and extend beyond the classroom walls through co- curricular activities. Co-curricular activities are believed to help in character building and skills application, promoting learners' individual development. However, there has been a dismal participation of secondary school students in co-curricular activities. Therefore, this study sought to establish the influence of school infrastructural resources on secondary school students’ participation in cocurricular activities in Laikipia West Subcounty, Laikipia County, Kenya. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. A total of 283 form three students, 22 games teachers, and 9 principals were used as respondents in the study. Schools were selected through stratified sampling on the basis whether the school is a county school, extra county, or subcounty school. Simple random sampling was used to select the students, purposive sampling for games teachers, and stratified sampling for the principals. Data was collected using questionnaires for students and games teachers, and interview schedules for the principals. The data analysis included quantitative methodology where descriptive statistics (percentages and frequencies) were used to analyze the data. The use of SPSS also aided in the analysis. Chuka university supervisors assisted the researcher in ascertaining the content validity of the research instruments and research experts in the field of education helped assess the face validity. From the findings, majority of the students and teachers agreed that insufficient field space and inadequate resources discourage learners participation in co-curricular activities. The principals also thought that lack of enough field space and resources greatly affects students’ participation in co-curriculars. It was concluded that most students do not participate in co-curricular activities due to insufficiency of field space and inaccessibility of the necessary resources. The study recommended that the Ministry of Education should provide funds for the schools to acquire more ground space and the necessary materials for co-curricular activities