The effect of child labour on academic achievement of primary school pupils: a case of Voi division of Voi district, Taita-Taveta County Kenya

Abstract

The child presence in the labor market carries many implications. This is because the long hours spent on the job result in fatigue, restlessness and lack of concentration in class. However, there is scarcity of related studies particularly in economic disadvantaged areas in emerging economies like Kenya. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of child labour on academic achievement of primary school pupils in Voi Division of Voi District Kenya in Taita-Taveta County. More specifically the study aimed at finding out the predominant child labour related activities among primary school going children in Voi Division, investigating the determinants of child labor among pupils in Voi division of Voi district Kenya, assess the academic performance of pupils who engage in child-labour activities and those who do and evaluate the most significant child-labour activity in academic achievement of pupils in Voi division of Voi district Kenya. The study was guided by Theory of Exploitative Child Labor and Expectancy Valency Theory. The research adopted a descriptive survey design The study targeted 254 primary school pupils, systematic sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 256 primary school pupils and 20 head teachers were interviewed. Self-administered, Structured questionnaires and an interview schedule were used to collect primary data. Descriptive statistics such as means and standard deviation and inferential statistics such as Pearson correlation and ANOVA was used in analyzing data...Findings showed that majority of the pupils were engaged in domestic work as a child-labour activity, hawking and informal business/ trading. Majority of the pupils were introduced to child labour activities by their friends, they were engaging in the child labour activities because they wanted to provide food for their families. It was also clear that the mean academic performance of pupils not involved in child-labour related activities was higher. Most of the child-labour activities such as digging, weeding and harvesting negatively and significantly contributed to low academic performance. Female pupils engaged in child-labour related activities. It is recommended that the government should enforce the existing child labour laws while improving on them to help protect children. It is upon the various stakeholders to ensure that the teachers are empowered to help in the implementation of anti-child labour laws.