An Assessment of Factors Affecting Transition of Pupils from Public Primary Schools to Public Secondary Schools in Buuri Sub-county, Meru County, Kenya

Abstract

Transition from one level of education to another is the most important means by which children are empowered to develop productive human capital for national development. Despite Government's initiative to make secondary education affordable, many pupils in Buuri Sub-county continue to drop out yearly after class eight though academically eligible to transit to secondary school. This study sought to determine factors that affect transition of pupils to secondary schools in Buuri Sub-county. Specifically, the study sought to: determine the extent to which family related factors affect transition of pupils to secondary schools, establish the extent to which socio-cultural factors affect transition of pupils to secondary, establish the extent to which pupil related factors affect transition of pupils to secondary schools and determine the extent to which Government education policies affect transition of pupils to secondary schools in Buuri Sub-county in Meru County. Descriptive research survey design was used. The target population of this study consisted of form one, two and three students from secondary schools in Buuri Sub-county, head teacher's secondary schools, 140 teachers from the 10 secondary schools, class eight pupils of the 42 primary schools the DEO and 2 DQASOs in Buuri Sub-county. The study used stratified simple random sampling technique to select 100 students and 100 pupils and purposive sampling to select teachers and head teachers. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used in data collection. Once data was collected, data analysis was done using descriptive statistics (frequency counts, means and percentage) with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17. Study results were presented using frequency distribution tables, bar graphs and pie charts. Content analysis of meanings and implications of respondents' information was done on the qualitative data and results presented in descriptive narratives. This study established that family income, family instability due to separations and divorces and level of parent/guardian's formal education were the major family related factors that had the greatest effect on transition of pupils to secondary schools in Buuri Sub County. Early marriages, child labour, female genital mutilation, gender discrimination against the girl child were the socio-cultural factors that affected transition of pupils to secondary schools the most in the County. Peer pressure, motivation to continue with education and attitude on value of secondary education were the pupil factors that affected transition of pupils to secondary schools the most in the County. Lack of effective monitoring and evaluation of the transition process, lack of enough funds to support the needy students as a result of misappropriation of bursary funds by the leadership in the district were the government policy related factors that affected transition of pupils to secondary schools the most in Buuri Sub County. Study recommends that the Government should harmonise strategies for increasing access to secondary education and follow up of pupils completing primary cycle to ensure that all transit to secondary school. Also, the Government should enforce strict implementation of the Basic Education Law of 2012 that prescribes heavy penalty on parents who fail to provide education to their children or those who encourage child labour. The Government should also consider making secondary education fully free in all schools to allow poor pupils to access education in the high quality secondary schools. There is need for more research on-national policies, interplay of factors across regions, gender and role of private providers in the entire country.