Determinants of dropout and transition rates in public primary Schools in Kisumu East sub county Kenya

Abstract

The government of Kenya re-introduced Free Primary Education in 2003 to enhance access, retention and transition. In Kisumu East Sub County, dropout rate is higher and transition rate lower than the neighboring Sub Counties of Kisumu Central, Kisumu West, Seme, Nyando, Muhoroni and Nyakach. This leads to high wastage of limited educational resources. The purpose of this study was to determine determinants of transition and dropout rates in public primary schools in Kisumu East Sub County. The study was guided by the following objectives: to determine the grade dropout rate in public primary schools in Kisumu East Sub County, to determine the grade transition rate in public primary schools in Kisumu East Sub County, to establish causes of high drop out in public primary schools in Kisumu East Sub County and to determine factors leading to low transition in Kisumu East Sub county. The population consisted of 45 head teachers, 274 teachers and 751 pupils. Saturated sampling was used to select 40 head teachers and stratified random sampling to select 74 teachers and 202 pupils. Descriptive survey research design was used in this study. The instruments that were used in the study were questionnaire, document analysis and interview schedule. Face and content validity of the instrument were determined by supervisors from the department of Education Management and Foundation Maseno University. A pilot study was carried out in four schools and a reliability index of .80 was obtained in head teachers questionnaire and .70 for teachers and pupils questionnaire from test-retest technique. Qualitative data was analyzed into themes and sub themes. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study found out that the dropout rate in Kisumu East Sub County was 19.7% and the transition rate is 68.72% in 2020, the leading factor for dropout was the level of family income at 98% and the leading factor for transition was availability of physical facilities at 84%. The study concluded that dropout and transition rates are determined by a range of interacting factors which includes level of family income, orphan hood, level of education of family head, availability of physical facilities, cost of education, enrolment pupil character and pupil attitude. The study recommended cooperation between parents, teachers and the government in order to reduce dropout rate and improve on the transition rate. This study may be of significance to all education stakeholders in Kisumu East Sub County in curbing the challenges of dropout and transition.