Influence Of Social Capital On Academic Performance In Public Secondary Schools In Siaya County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

A lot of resources have been directed to the education sector in terms of inputs in order to improve the quality of education. Despite all these, performance in KCSE by students in public secondary schools in Rarieda Sub County has persistently remained poor. It is for this reason that the researcher undertook this project work in order to establish the influence of social capital on the same. The purpose of the study was to establish the influence of social capital on students‟ academic achievement in public secondary schools in Rarieda Sub County. Specific objectives of the study were: to determine the influence of the level of trust, establish the influence of principal-teacher relations and to establish the influence of the level of collaboration among teachers on students‟ academic achievement. The study was based on social capital theory and the literature reviewed touched on various indicators of social capital. The researcher adopted descriptive survey design and the methodology used was quantitative approaches in which survey method was deemed appropriate. The targeted population was 204 public secondary schools in Siaya County and Rarieda Sub County was purposively selected. Respondents were arrived at using multistage sampling technique and16 schools in the sub county were randomly selected from which 144 respondents were sampled using stratified, proportionate, purposive and random sampling techniques. Questionnaires were used as the main study instrument and were tested for validity and reliability after conducting a pilot study. Data collected were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistical analysis using frequency counts, percentages and chi-square and presented using frequency distribution tables and pie charts. The study results revealed that there was low level of trust, lack of collaboration, and poor principal-teacher relations among teachers as implied by the Pearson chi-square values of (107.899, 337.469, and 270.591), (305.254, 326.269, and 91.507) and (87.599, 239.675, and 307.358) respectively with p-values of p= 0.0001suggeting that the relationship between the independent and dependent variables is statistically significant at 95% confidence level. The researcher therefore recommended that; principals should seek to establish an environment which promotes trust among teachers, embrace the principle of “all-inclusiveness” in all decision making processes and also embrace the principle of delegation of duties to teachers. Principals should also promote social interactions among staff members. There is also need for principals to leas with BOM and other stakeholders in the education sector in order to solicit funds for teachers‟ professional development at school level within the various departments. Principals also need to initiate and support spirit of teamwork among teachers especially at departmental level. The researcher also recommends to the MOEST to reconsider investing on the development of social capital by formulating and implementing policies that would ensure that schools engage in regular benchmarking among teachers. Finally the researcher suggests that the study be replicated with a larger sample and in larger area (county) or in the whole country.