Thesis:

. Relationship between students' participation in income generating activities and their academic performance in public day secondary schools in Ugunja sub-county, Kenya

Education is a critical component of social and economic growth in any society. Many countries worldwide strive to provide quality education to their citizens. In developed countries, the state fully funds both primary and secondary education. On the contrary, most developing countries find it difficult to fully finance education at both primary and secondary levels, forcing families to foot the remaining part of the bill. Unfortunately, students in developing countries participate in income-generating activities as an alternative way to meet some educational costs. This research sought to establish the relationship between students' participation in income generating activities and their academic performance in public day secondary schools in Ugunja sub-county, Kenya. The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between students' participation in sand harvesting and their academic performance, to establish the relationship between students' participation in Boda Boda operations and their academic performance, to assess the relationship between students' participation in hawking activities and their academic performance, and to determine the relationship between students' v participation in fishing activities and their academic performance in public day secondary schools in Ugunja Sub-County, Kenya. Basu and Van's (1998) Economics of Child Labour theory was used as a basis for this research. A descriptive survey research design was used to execute the study. The target population was the 1498 students in public day secondary schools within the research area who participated in incomegenerating activities on a regular basis. The sample respondents comprised 306 students who arrived through Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) formula. The sampled students were selected using the snowball sampling technique. The data was collected using a questionnaire for independent variables and a document analysis guide for the dependent variable data. A pilot study used 36 students who were later excluded from the research. Validity was achieved by close scrutiny of the tools by the supervisors and other experts from Mount Kenya University. A pilot study and a test-retest method were used to ensure the reliability of the research tools. Data were analyzed descriptively using percentages, means, and standard deviations. Hypotheses were tested inferentially at a 0.05 alpha significance level using Bivariate Pearson's Correlation. The r values for sand harvesting, Boda Boda Operations, Hawking, and Fishing Activities were -0.719, -0.809, -0.584, and -0.847, respectively. Results revealed a strong negative relationship between students' participation in the four income-generating activities and their academic performance in the study area. It is recommended in this study that the government should enforce all relevant policies on child labour. Secondly, the school principals should work closely with local administrators (Chiefs) to ensure that students are in school during school hours and not engaged in income generating activities. In addition, the Ministry of Education should increase capitation towards funding for public day secondary school education so that students from poor backgrounds do not engage in IGAs to finance their education, as this negatively affects their academic performance. Finally, school Boards of Management (BOMs) should establish endowment kitties to cushion students from poor backgrounds.