Publication:

An investigation of the causes of poor performance in kcse In secondary schools in Kitui central district, Kitui county, Kenya.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the causes of poor performance in KCSE in Secondary Schools in Kitui central, Kitui County. The study sought to determine availability of Teaching /learning resources in Secondary Schools in Kitui central district, how the learning environment causes poor performance in KCSE in secondary schools, teacher’s characteristics in Kitui central district. This study adopted both descriptive survey design and inferential statistics on a sample of 30 Geography teachers, 30 District Education Officers, and 30 Students in five Secondary Schools in Kitui central district. Stratified sampling used to select the sample to be included in the study. Both the questionnaire interview schedule was used for data collection. The collected data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Studies done in Kenya showed that access to sustainable performance in the country characterized by inadequate teaching and learning materials in Secondary schools and Lack of enough teachers and poor remuneration (MOEST POLICY 2006). The collected data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics using the statistical package for social scientist (SPSS). The study was expected to increase the efficiency of delivery services in the Secondary Schools. It was believed that the study would be important in providing the education policy makers with the relevant basis for prioritizing secondary programmes and to allocate adequate resources to improve the KCSE performance in secondary schools. The study would also important in challenging the community to take secondary educational programme seriously and co- own the programmes in providing the best learning environment for the Students. Finally, there would a significant relationship between teachers’ characteristics and the quality of academic education meaning the teacher characteristics affects the academic quality. From the findings of this study the researcher recommended that there are needs for the ministry of education to allocate funds for funding secondary schools. The school Principals should improve the learning environment for their schools so as to improve performance, the DEOs office should organize in-service trainings for secondary teachers so as to improve their teaching characteristics and parents should be highly involved in the learning activities of their children so as to improve KCSE performance in Kitui central subcouty.