Effects of cattle herding on academic performance of primary school pupils in Kilibwoni division, Nandi north district

Abstract

The study was to investigate the effects of cattle herding on academic performance of primary school pupils in Kilibwoni Division in Nandi North District, Nandi County in Kenya. The study was guided by the objectives: To establish whether cattle herding as a form of child labour affects academic performance of the children; find out whether there is a difference in academic performance between boys and girls involved in cattle herding; establish the relationship between parental social-economic status and children’s involvement in cattle herding; establish the relationship between birth order of children and their involvement in cattle herding; and establish the relationship between birth order and cattle herding by pupils in primary schools in Kilibwoni Division. The study was guided by social learning theory, Maslow's theory of the hierarchy of needs and expectancy valence theory. The study focused on public primary schools within Kilibwoni division. It applied survey research design. The study applied simple random sampling to select 12 primary schools from 36. Purposive sampling was used to select classes 3, 5 and 7. Then simple random sampling was applied to select 8 pupils from each class forming a sample size of 288 pupils. The research tools were: questionnaire and interview scheduled. The validity and reliability of instruments was through critical evaluation and piloting. The data collected was analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Hypotheses were tested using inferential statistics t-test and chi square. The study established that pupils who said that they involved themselves in cattle herding 204 (70.8%) performed poorly. This study might be useful to the government and non-governmental organizations in planning education for children in Kenya and enable them find ways and means of eradicating the problem of child labor. Also, the policy makers in Nandi District may use the findings to formulate policies that discourage participation of pupils in the herding activity.