Analysis of the influence of free day secondary Education on school climate in secondary schools in Kenya: a case of Tigania West sub county.

Abstract

Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) was introduced in Kenya in the year 2008 by the Government with the key aim of ensuring access to secondary education for the poor with the expectations of improving transition rates from primary school to secondary school. The government was to provide funds for all the school expenditure except boarding fees and school uniform and this was expected to improve both the school physical and academic climate. Despite these complaints, no study has been done to establish the role played by the free day secondary education in improving the school climate. This study therefore sought to establish the role of FDSE in improving the school physical and academic climates in Tigania WestSub-County. The study was guided by the theory of school climate in which the FDSE was the independent variable while the school physical and academic climates were the dependent variables. The study utilized the descriptive survey design. Data was collected from public secondary school principals, teachers and students using self-administered questionnaires. A pilot study was carried out and the results used to test the validity and reliability of the research instruments. To ascertain the reliability, the Cronbach‘s alpha coefficient was calculated in which an alpha value of between 0.7 and 0.9 would indicate adequate reliability. The questionnaires had Cronbach‘s Alpha Coefficients of 0.79 for the students, 0.76 for the teachers and 0.84 for the principals thus they were deemed reliable Questionnaires were issued to the respondents during arranged visits with school principals, filled immediately and collected. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics such as averages, frequencies and percentages and presented in form of graphs, tables and charts with help of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20 for ease of interpretation. The results showed that school physical facilities and instructional materials were inadequate while school learning environment was conducive. The school physical climate and academic climate were therefore in conducive. The FDSE funds were found to be inadequate and not covering all vote heads required for a day student. The study recommends that the government should increase the FDSE funds and include funds for school physical facilities as well as ensuring timely disbursement of the funds.