Determinants of academic achievement: A case study of public and private primary schools in Saboti Division of Transnzoia West District, Kenya.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the determinants of academic achievement in public and private primary schools in Saboti division of Trans-Nzoia West District. The main objective was to determine the main causes of poor academic achievement in public and private primary schools in the division. It was also aimed at suggesting solutions to persistent poor academic achievement in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in public schools. The study has provided the background information and a better understanding of the determinants of academic achievement to educational planners, teachers, parents and all other educational stakeholders.The researcher was guided by the theoretical framework of Educational Production Function (EPF) which looks at the relationship between Educational inputs and outputs in the Input-Output model. Data for the study was collected from four public and two private primary schools in the division with a total of 419 candidates out of the total of 1738 candidates in the whole division for the year 2007. Six Head teachers each from the selected schools participated in the study. Data was collected mainly by use of a questionnaire and document analysis. The study used descriptive and inferential statistics Percentages, Chi-square and regressional analysis. Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for analysis. The level of significance used was 0.05.From the findings it was found that there was no relationship between the institutional factors and the academic achievement. On the other hand there was a significant relationship between the teacher factors, pupil factors and parental factors with academic achievement in Saboti division. Based on the objectives and the background of study, it is evident that there is need to provide educational inputs which will translate into good academic achievement in both public and private primary schools. In Conclusion, it is the teacher, pupil and parental factors other than the institutional factors which largely determine academic achievement in a school.