dc.description.abstract | The Kenya government is keen on ensuring pupils excel in their academic work. Some of the progressive
steps the government has taken are enhancing access to education by providing free primary education and
waiving of national examination registration fees for all pupils undertaking basic education. Even with such
continued support from the government, primary schools in Marani Sub-County have performed dismally
in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination with accumulative mean score of 225.76
for the last five years. Due to the poor performance, the current study was thus conducted to establish the
role of BoM as a determinant of pupils’ academic performance; investigate the school climate as a
determinant of pupils’ academic performance; and examine teachers’ morale as a determinant of pupils’
academic performance, in public primary schools in Marani Sub-County. The study utilized descriptive
survey design. The target population was 317 Standard Eight teachers, 64 head teachers and 64 BoM
chairpersons in 64 public primary schools. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select schools
and categories of respondents. The sample size was 95 Standard Eight teachers, 19 head teachers, and 19
BoM chairpersons which represented 30% of the target population. Questionnaire was used to collect data
from the teachers and head teachers whereas interview schedule was used to collect data from BoM
chairpersons. Document analysis was carried out at Marani Sub-County Education Office to assist in
extracting KCPE examination mean scores. The KCPE examination was used because it was standardized
and administered to Standard Eight pupils in primary schools. Quantitative data was analyzed using
descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages and means) while qualitative data was arranged into
categories and interpreted based on themes derived from research objectives. The results revealed that
majority of schools’ BoM did not manage disciplinary matters, promote culture of dialogue and democratic
governance, participate in guidance and counseling and manage resources. There was also unconducive
schools’ climate due to inadequate facilities, negative pupil-teacher relations and inadequate capacity
development programmes for teachers. Teachers’ morale was low as exhibited by their absenteeism,
irregular attendance to class lessons, unwilling to conduct pupils’ remedial teaching, and non-participation
in class assessment activity. The study found out that when the means of the role of BoM, school climate
and teachers’ morale were high, the mean scores of pupils’ academic achievement in KCPE were also high
and vice versa. The overall means of role of BoM, school climate and teachers’ morale were 2.40, 2.33,
and 2.43 respectively whereas the overall mean of KCPE examination was 231.76, an indication that the
means scores of the study variables were low. Based on the study findings, it was recommended that the
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) should regularly mount capacity building
programmes to schools’ BoM so as to boost their role performance; The schools BoM should undertake
resource mobilization exercise to ensure adequate facilities; Head teachers should ensure there is positive
pupil-teacher relationship in schools and all stakeholders are involved in decision making; Teachers should
report to schools regularly and attend to all class lessons as timetabled. They should also be encouraged to
have positive attitude towards preparation of teaching and learning materials. | en_US |