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'. ----- -4[j, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS: A CASE STUDY OF

EXTRA-PRO~îNCIAL, PROVINCIAL, AND HARAMBEE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA.

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by"

John NY.amaiJMaundu ---.. -~:- ' "

Department of Secondary Education,

McGill University, Montreal.

-May, 1986.

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A thesis submitted to the Facult.Y of Graduate Studies and Research in

partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of

Philosophy.

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C J. N. Maundu, 1986.

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" ' ACHIEVEMENT IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS IN KEN~AN SECONDARY SCHOO~S

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. ABSTRACT

The purpose ~f thi~ ~tudy.was to identify factors that

account 4.or di ffe.rential achievement in s<iio.Ïence and r~ ....

mathematics in the Kenya Certifi'cate of Education {KCE) -.examination ~mong three types of secondary schools, namely,

Extra-prov~ncial, Provincial, and Harambee secondary . schools. Data were collectedOfrom s~x, schools, two from

each of the three types of'schools in Kiambu dis~rict, - ~ ~

Kenya. Paren~al eQucation and occupation were 'found tO,be o •

, , significant predictors of achievementnin Che Certificate ~f

P(imary Education exam~n~tion (CPE), but nof in ~~E

examinatiGns. However, since the CPE was the only device

used students for secondari education, parental . .

and occupation w~re. important determinants of the . k' d of secondarj sch00l into wh~~ a student was admitted.

Comparisons'among the three kinds of schools indicated ~

need for better4instruction~1 f~cilities, more qualifi'ed .

staff, and greater supeivision of ins~ruction especially in

Harambee secondary schools~

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SESUME

Le but de la présente étude, est d~identifier les ~ ~

~cteurs déterminants pouvant expliquer les différentes , . performancès obtenues en sciences et en mathématiques lors-~"

, d'examens se déroulant dans tr?~s catégories d~écoles .le secondaires, soit: Extra-provinciale, Provinciale, et

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Harambee, dans le cadre de l'obtention du Certificat Kényen ,. , '-

" , d'Eduçation (CKE),ed Les données furent recueillies auprès de

six écoles, soit deux parmi chacunes des catégories ci-haut

mentionnées,.dans la district d~'Kiambu au ~énya. _ L'~ploi

'çiétenu par les par'ents ainSi que l'éducation conférée par

~es derniers, s'avér~nt des éléments importants et -

indicatifs de la 'pérfoqnance lors d'examens pour l'obtention

du Certificat d'Education primaire (CEP~, mais pas pour le '"

CKE. L'emploi detenu par °le~ parents ainsi que l'éducation

confé~ée par ces derniers, 'furent des él~ments dét~rminants

dans le c~oix du type d'école secondair~ à laquelle un

'étudiant pouvait être admis et ce depuis que le~ CEP étlit 'le (

seul moyen de- sélectionner des étudiants pour l'éducation au

second~i;ee )En fai~ant des comparaisons entre les' trois

catégories d'écples secondair~s, un réel besoin fût

ideQtifier dans tout'les écoles, sU~9ut celles de la •

catégorie Harambee; au niveau de l'amélioration des

installations instructionelles, du recrutement des <

p~ofes~eurs plus qualifiés, ainsi que, de l'augme~tation de

,la surve i llance de t' enseignment.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

l owe deep gratiJ;udé to the Offipe of the President, . . « '.

Kenya, for g~ me ... permissi~n to u.ndertake this ,study. . -This thesis was prepar~d under the supervision of

professor William E: Searles of' the Department of Secondary

,,' Éducation, Faculty of Education, McGill UnioversitYr l would / ,

like to thank~him for hi~ encourage~~rit, counsel, and

dirécti~n. 0 .. 1 , 1 am.also inde~ted to the other members of my

-committee, Pr~fessors Thomas Eisemon, Norman Hen~hey, David

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McWethy, and David Harpp for their ~seful criticism and

advice.

', ... ~-' >1 would like to thank the Ken~a National Examinations -, - " . . Council for the willingness with wnich it supplied me wlth

'the data" that 1 requi.red. ,>

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My sincere thanks also go to the headmaster,s, o'

1 headmistresses, teachers and stud'ents who participated in

this s.urvey. \

Last but not least, l àm very grateful to my wife Rhbda

for her patience and suppor~.

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TABLE OP CONTENTS o r" Page-

Abstract

Resumé

Acknowledgements ~

List of tables

INTRODUCTION

'l!I CHAPTER ONE: SCHOOL QUALITY AND STUDENT

ACHI EVEMENT ,

1.1 Review of related research

Kenya"' s education syster,m

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CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY AND STUDY CHARACTERÎSTICS 30 , ,

2.1; Selection of the region for the study

2.2 Selection of study samp1es

2.3 Methods of data collection . -

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35

2.4 Statistical methods used in data analyses 39

2.5 Location and characteristics of schools,

students, and parents 41 ~

2.6 Enrollment and social background of students

in extra-provincial, provincial, and

"Harambee schoools

2.7 Summary

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CHAPTER THRE~: EFFECTS OF PARENTAL EDUCATION AND

OCCUPATION ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT ~64 ---- ~ ---

3.1 Achievement- in the Certificate of .. Primary Education examination

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3.2 Prediction of achievement in CPE from

parental education and occupation

3.3 Achievement in the Kenya Certificate

ot Education examination "

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3.4 Frediction of achievement in RCE-from CPE 75

3.5 Prediction 'of achievement in RCE from

pa'r~ntal education and occupation

3.6 Summary

CHAPTER FOUR: SCHOOL AND TEACHER EFFECTS ON

KCE ACHI EVEMENT

4.1 School facilitiès and'KCE achievement

14.2 Qualifications and teaching e'xperience \

df science and mathematics teachers

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4.3 Lesson preparation and teaching methods 98

4.4 School tradiiion and academic athievement 115

\ 4.5 Summary lIB

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VARI AT! ON 1 N RCE ,<PERFORMANCE BETWEEN

TWO HARAMBEE SCHOOLS .

5.1 Achievement in RCE bi61ogy, ph,sical

scienc~ and mathematics

5.~ Form I intake ,

5.3 Textbook availability and academic

achievement

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. 5.4 Teacher qualifications, KCE, marking,' and

5.5

cl~ssroom teaching

School administration, and supervi~iop of

instruct ion

5. 6 Summ~ry

CHAPTER SIX: S~RY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6.1 Changes iri Kenya's ,educational.system

'6.2 Summary of findings ,

6.3 Improvement of instruction and academic

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achievement in Kenya's secondary schools 144

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BIBLIQ9RAPHY

Appendix . ..

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A: A letter of introduction to school heads 162

B: List of schools involved in the survey

C: Secondary School Administrators

Questionnaire (SSAQf

D: Secondary Science:Teacher

Questionnaire, (SSTQ)

E: Secondary Science Student .

Questionnai,f.e :(SSSQ) " F: National performance in KCE science

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and mathematics in 1984 .. ' G: Summary of 1984 KCE re!ults for all

students in the t~pes of schools chosen

o foro thi 5 study

H: Attitude of ~ecohdary school. students

~o:ards sci~nce and mathematics by Q

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type of school attended

1: Su~ary of KCE results for aIl students in

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184

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186

the two Harambee scheels chosen for this study 187

~. J.I- Carrela t ions among school subjects, and

between scnool subjects and parental

education and occupation

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LIST gF TAIlLES D

Table

1 Student ertrollment, number I~ science . and mathe~atics classes and average

class size by school

II Student enrollment tn KCE science and

mathematics.by type of school

LII Education of parents of secondary school

students by type of school

IV Parental occupations of secondary school

students by type of school

V Distripution of CPE scores across types

of schools

VI Relationship between student achievement

in CPE and parental education and occupation

by-~ype of school

VII Student achievement in KCÉ mathematic~

bi~logy, and physical science by type

of> school D

VIII Relationship between student achievement

in KCE mathematics and CPE scores

by type of 'school

IX ~elationship between studènt achievement , Q

KCE mathematics and parental education and

occupation by ~ype of school

X Results of a one-way ANOVA of mean scores

'in KCE physical sc ience, biology, and

mathematics scores for students in

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, pr~vincial and Harambee schools

XI Mean number of students per textbook by

type of school

XII Professio'nal and academic qualifications " of science and mathematics teachers

by type of school

XII:! Science and mathematics teachers.', .

lesso~ pr~pprat~on considerations

by type of school

\" XIV Time taken by teachers to prepa~e

each scien~e laboratory lesson

XV proportion of time science is taught in

the laboratory by type of school

XVI Distribution of 'pass' and 'fail' KCE

grades in biplogy, physical science, and

mathematics in two Harambee schools

XVII Results of a one-way ANOVA of mean scores in

biology, physical science, and mathematics

for students in two Harambee 5chools

XVIII Variation in textbook availabili,ty between

two Harambee schools

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1 NTRODUCTI ON ,

Secondary education in Kenya not ~nlY serves a~ base

for higher education, but also opens th~ door to wage

employment (Republic of Kenya, 1964, p. 68 ; Wellings, 1982, p. ,

257;'Stabler, 1969, p. 120). It is generally obs.s.rved in Kenya

that students educated in government maintained secondary

, schools perform better in national examinations than those o

admitted to Harambee (community sponsored) secondary schools •

. The present study sought to identify some of thè sources of D

variation in achievement among students in extra-provincial,

provincial (both government maintained), and Harambee secondary

schools. More specifically, the study attempted to answer the

following questions: ---a. Does the socio-economic condition of a stûdent's family

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affect whether or'not he attends an extra-provincial,

provincial, or Harambee secondary school? Does it'

affect his achievement in science and mathematics?

~. Do school characterisiics such as facilities

" and teacher qualifications influence student

achievement inoseience and mathematics?

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c. Wftat factors account for differential student

performance in Harambee schools?

It isnhoped that the results of this study will provide r"j-

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insights into the r~lative cQntribution of'-home backgro\1nd and

school quality factor~ to ~~udeJf achievement in nation~l o

examinations at the primary and secondary levels in Ken~a.

This dissertation consists of six chapters. Chapter one

review~ literature related tQ the study·and aI 50 describes the ..

educa~ional system in Keny~ with .particular referende to the

national examinations. The second chapter deals with the

selection of schools and of school hearlmasters/headmistresses,

tea'chers, and students. l t also deals 'wi th methods used to •

collect and analyse data. The third chapte~ exàmines the " r~o;) ,

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relation~hip between student achie~e~ent in the Kenya

Certificate of Education (KCE) --examinations and' the followi'ng ", , ,

factors: 'secondary school entry qualificati'ons, 'pa,rental level , , .. ..

of education, and pa~e~tal occupation. The effects of school . facilities, teacher qualifica~ions~ teaching experience,

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teaching methods, - and school tradi t ion on success in KCE 1 v •

examinations in the three types of second'ary schools are

considered in ~hapter four. The fifth'chapter compares two > •

Harambee sch'ools w i th respect to factors. related to . ,

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differential performance in KCE examinati·ons. The last châ'-pter,.

summarizes the findings of .tRe research, qraws conclusions, and

• /1 makes recoIPmendations t,hat 'are aimed at irqproving the quality

of instruction in Kenyan 'secondary schools.·

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CijAPTER ONE -" " ,

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j SC~L QUALITY AND'STUOENT ACHIEVEMENT

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This chapter presénts both a revie~ of literature reÎated

to the'study,'as weIl ~s an account of the formaI system of • education, in Kenya. 'The.literature,rev

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iew .'focuses on'studies

undertaken since the' 1960' s in' the Un i ted Sta tes 1 Br i ta in, and - ~ , l, ..

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a ?bér of de"velopin g countr,ies, t~at have' ,im~ortance for

under~a'nding the rela t; ve ccntr; bution of home envi ronrnent and·

scheel, factors to academic achievement, in Kenya. l' . ,

The description of Kenya's syste~ of education p~ovidèS,

information on the expansion of educational opportunity at the '" ... r 00

, primary and seconpary scnool levels since the count~y bec?me

independent in 1963. It also desctibes t~e types of secondary

schoels available in the countr,y as weIl as the examinations" ~ .

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used at both thé primary and the secondary )evels of 'schoollng.

These examinations are the Certtficate of primary Education, . (CPE) and the ~eny~ Ce~t~ficate cif Education (RCE),

, respectively.

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-l~l Review of related resèarch

Studies conducted in'Britain and 'i~ the United~~~~te~ of , , ,

~merica indicate that'a British or American student's

socio~economic background is more important in explaining his '\ 1,' "

or her academic achievement' thah school charact-eristics and"

experiences. Exact~y the reverse is said to.be ,the case in

'developing countries in Africa. There, factors such as , ,

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~ q'-4 teaching-le~;nin}fa~ilities ahd the' academic and professional

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qualifications of t~achers"correlate highly with scholastic

success. The home background of the learner in an Afr~can

'coun~ry do es -n~t àppear to be of lIluch i,mportance in det~~minirig

-academic achieveme~t. 1

Variables·w~ich have been shown to be associated with

academic achievement in school subjects su'ch as mathemat ics and

science in 'developed as well as develo-ping c;'ountri"e's can ,be /" - \

descri~ed as exngenous or endogenous. Exogenous variables are . ~ . thos~ that are "locatéd outsidê the institution Qf schooling'

and are not 'Iunder the direct .inf.luénce of, the sc"hooling 1 ,

proce,s~" (Haladyana et al., 1982, p. 671). Examp1es of these. . ,

,factors incl~de the socio-economic status of the student, sex

of the student, family ~ize, and birth order. Endogenous

variablei on the otber hand, are those factors which can be "

influenced dirèctly" by the school in sorne way. ' They inèlude ~.- -

teachi'ng st'r~te9ies,',school facilities, the teaching-learning , '

, env,ironment,', school administration, and the avail~biHty of " , ~"~ .tJ" -

tèxtbooks and.other resources.

Resear'ch carried 'out mainly ln the 1960'·5 and 1970' s'in ~ .

Western countries particu~arly the United States and B~itain

concluded that ~ society's cultural, economiç, and political

structùres are the main determinants df school outcomes

(Coleman et a1.,(1966; Pib~den et ~l., 1967; Jencks et al., -

1972; Bowles and Gintis,' 1976). Colem,an reported that , ,

socjo-econ'omic factors were stron<;Jly re1ated to academic " .,..-

achievemel1t' and tha"t when tllese factors were stat i st ica11y

controlled, schoô1 characteristics accounted for "only a sma11

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fraction of'differences in pupil a~hievemtnt" (Coleman et al.,

1966, p. 22~' Thus·, equalizing the quality of schools (e~.

b,iring equally weIl- trained teachers and having similar

facilities anq curricula) wou'ld not substantially. reduce

vadation in student àchievement.. According to Jencks, the , .

provision of similar teaching-learning resources in American

elementary schools woulq reduce disparities i~ aChiev!ment by

3% or les5 r while at the high school level an equalization of

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school "quality"-would result in a reduc~ion of variation in

st~dent achievement b~ a mere 1% (J~neks et al., 1972,'p. 109).

The drop would be 25%-~O% if thé di f ferertces in' family. , , .

background were e1iminated (Jencks et al., 1972, p. 109). , ~ -

The findings of the Plowden survey of British school

chi rdren agree wi th the American studies conduèted by Jencks'

and "Coleman and emphasize :h~t the influence ,'of the hôme ï's an ,

important contributor to variation in academie achievement , , ,

(Plowden et al., 1967,' p: 34). 1 t was noted in, the Plowden

study that school, teachers, and oth~r related factors' \ .

accounted for 28% of the variatiOn in stude~t achievement while 1 ,

home circumstances (€.g. the av~ilability and variety of books, ,

reading _oppo~tunities, and hélp from par~nts) explained 20% of

the variation in educational perf?rmance (Piowden et al.,~1967, "\ 1 & ..

p. 33). Of the school variables studied, the experience and , \~ , •.

competence of the' teacher appear,ed to be the most'important 1

factor in explaining differehtial'student achie~e~en~ (Plowden

,et al., 1967 , p. 3'5). Teacher qua,lif,ication's 'were '!"lot a major

factor contributing to variation in academic achievement

~ecause most of ~he teachérs had similar education and training

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(Plowden et al., 1'967 r p. 35). Plowden ~urther reports that in'

genera), l

V"the highe,-- the socio-economic grou~, the. m~re-pa'ter1ts attenc;led open days/O concerts and parent-teacher , association meetings, 'and the more often .they talked with he~ds and class teachers about how tneir childreo were doing at 'SCAOO1." (Plowden et a1.; .. 1967, p •. 35) .,

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This suggests, for example, that the more ~ducated and weIl , .

paid parents showed greater concern fçr the academic progress

of their children than pa!ents with less eduëation anq poorly

pay i ng jobs.

Thua, the Coleman, plowaen, and Jencks studies, , , .. , demonstrated that' a student' s socio:-economic backg,round has

°grea ter inf luence: on ac'ademic achievement than school-based"

factors. In 'fact "tlre probabilit'y of à high s~hool gradua'te

attending a co11~ge is just as dependent 9n parental .. '

, -soc i o-economic sta tus as' i t was thi rty yeârs ago" (Bowles and

Gintis, t976, p. 8). Saha, summariz~ng research on stude'nt' --, , -

achiev~ment undertaken in the United States and Britain . ,

~emarked that "the direct ~ffect of schooling on acade~ic: - "-

.6hievement and in particulàr4 the effect of teacher quality,

is at most ambiguous" (Saha, 1982, p.'74).

A recent,3-year study of l2 schools in England by Rutterl

indicates that schools influence student achievement more . markedly'than what was suggested py ear~ier·studies. -Also,

~ome background fac~ors do not'contribute as much to academic

performance as does the quality-of instruction t~e studen~s

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• arid his co-researchers further observed that "nct orily were ,

pupils influenced by·th~ way they were dealt with ~s .

individu~ls, ~t also there was a group influence resulting

from the ethos· of the school as a social ,institution" (Rut'ter ~

et "al., l~79, p. 205). In other words, what went on wi~hin

sch091S, Le., the qualitative functi,oning of t'he schools, was

more important in contributing to variations in academic \t

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achievement than familial characteristics. Rutter claimed that

Vschool's 'do indeed make a di fference as far as their influénce

on studef!t ach~evement is concerned 'and thàt his findings

demonstrated"a strong relationship between ~chQol

cha racter-i st i,e s ,-aryd st udent outcomés. ", eut tance has observed in.!

this connection that Rutter succeeded in breaking new ground by.

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"ex.pl ici t ly at tempt ing to vi e!l behaviour wi thl n the ---.èontex t'of

the social and organization'al aspEf?'ts of scho~l" ,(Cutt~nce;' , , , 1980, p. 273). Further, Cuttance ,noted. t:hat past research has

not" adequately accounted for school ef'fects on achievement.

Research und~~aken in 'developing countries'has revealed'

that, sc~ool variable-s tend to h~ve 'greater înfluence on

acadernic açhievement than do the socio-economic backgrounds of

;he·student~. A study conducted in Uganda during the 1970's;

for instance, sbo~ed tba~ there,was ~o correlation between a , ' ,

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pr imary school stu~ent' s soc ia-l back~round and bis or her total

score on th~ National Primary Leàving Examination (~eyneman, . .

1976b, p. ~4}. In this study, social background was,measured

by collecting information on the educational le~el and

-occupation of the students' parents às well as on the kind and

, 'number of possessions in their'homes. The correlation wa,s

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approx imately zero when the soc io.-'economic status rneas\U'es were

treated separate'ly anà al-so ~hel') they were ~reated collec~ively

as ·a un i t. A simi lar fi nding ln Kenya w~ r~PQrted when soc ial

backg~ound factors were'used to predict performance,on primary

school le~ving examinations (in Heynernan, 1976a, p.J202)~

Textbook avàilability'has be~n shown to be consistently

related to, achievement in d,ev'eloping countr ies. Stùdiès done

in such deve1opin'g countries as Uganpa, Thailand, 'Inaia, Ch,i).e, .'

Ghana, Brazil, an~ Malaysia, indicated that acce~s t~ reading

m~terials i~ positiyely re1ated to student achievement

(Heyneman, Farell, Sepulveda-Stuardo, 1981). The data for

l ndia and Ch i l-e, for example, showed tha t a bloc k o'f fac'tors

which included textbook availabil~ty ~accounts for mo e of the

variance in test scores than does a block ~hich ~nciu

circumstances and student age and sex" (Heyneman,' et 1.,,1981, < 1

'~ p. '229) ; , This cOl)clus~on was ar:rived at using sc ience test

data for ~up{ls who were approx1mate1y-iO year~ old. The sarne , ~

conclusion "las drawn',wh,en both the sc h,oo l' and the- pupil were

used as unit~ of analyses. The dependent measure wa~ a 40 item

genera~ knowledge test in science, while the number of

textbooks available to pupils was ~sed'as the independen~

vari~b1e. b sur vey carried out iri Thailand (among tbird grade ,

. pupils and a representat.i.ve, ~ample ot' ,teachers),; again

indicated that textbook availability was positive1y related·to 1

~chievement. In this study, t~e dependent variable score was

obtained from a tést consisting of vccapul:ary and spelling,

a~ithmetic' and problem~solving, ,and reading c?mprehension. The

~or~elation of textbook availability ~ith achievement ~emained -..

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• virtually the same regardless of the effect, of socio-econo~ic

status of thé students' parents (Heyneman et al., 1981, p.'

230) •

9

A positive correlation between textb90ks and academic

performance was also r~por~ed in a study by Heyneman ç~verin9

'sorne 67 primary schools randomly selected trom across Uganda

(Heyneman and Jamison, 1980a, p. 214)., Students ~cores in the

National primary Leaving Examination were 'used as the dependent _ 1 0

. measures, whi1e the number of textbooks the students possessed

was the independent, variable. , ,

Among the more recent studies undertaken' in Kenya '.$

regarding factors influencing academic performance are those

carried out by Kathuri (1982) and Mwangi (1983). Kathuri's

research re'vealed that school resourcesf' including textbook

ava~labili~y, were not significantly related to performance in ,

the Certificate of primary Educatiori (CPE). Kathur~ (1982, p. '. ,

20) offered the fo1lowing exp1anation for his findings: , 1

, ."

" •• ,' this may not necessarily mean that teachinq résources or facilities are unnecessary. Good as thëy-may be, their effectiveness below a certain 1evel may depend on how they are made use 'of in combination with other factors.' Teaching resources may also not be significant'in totality but very "critical in sorne situations or subjects."

Significant"relationships were reported betw.een performance in

the CPE and the following factors: quality of teachers, use of.

"modern" teaching methods, and schoo1 leadership. Il,

Teacher

quality was assess~d with reference to the leve1 of education

and training: 'frequency of attend~nce at in-s,~rvice ;ourses,

and on the number and type of disciplinary actions taken ,

..'

o

o

1 .~

again~t teachers. Allowing children to be involved in

practical activities, giving assignments, and less "teacher •

10

talk" were considered as evidence of "modern" teachfng methods.

The guality of school leadership was determined through an

analysis of the frequency of staff meetings, staff discipline,

and time spent by headmasters on admi~istrative duties. • 0

Mwangi's study was concerned with identifying sorne of the

'factors which influence learning and achievement in secondary ~ \

school mathematics in Kenya. School, teacher, an~ student

characteristics'were studied. Information was collected )

thrrrUgh guestionnai~es t~?~ were supplemented with interviews

with some members of the sèhool inspectorate and the Kenya

National Examinations Council. Among the school ~

'-

ch~racteristics perta~ning to the availability of resources for

teaching mathematics, only t~o variables were found to be

significan-tly correlated with achievement in the Kenya , t~ , ...

Cer~ficate of Education (RCE) mathematics: the availability of

materials like cards and di ce for teaching probability and log \ ~

pap~r for teàching such concepts as co-ordinates. No

significant relationship was found between RCE mathematics

scores and other mathemat{cs teaching items such as the nu~b~r

of slide c~es, cubes, pyramlds, p~isms, maths textbo~kS, graph

papers, geo~lef:rical instruments, and manila papers.

Among th~ teach~r charact~ristics investigated by Mwangi,

only three were found to be related to ~chievemënt in KCE

mathematics-- two positively and one negàtively. The variables

showing positive relationship were the sex of the teacher

(students lea~ning from male teaçhers scored higher in KCE than •

o

) ,

, ,

....

..

".

ï ., ~ ';! ...

ilit,,"" "

Il

those taught by fe~ale teachers) and the availability of

teachers' guides and student ',textbooks. NegatiVe teachers' ~

attitude towards mathemati~s teaching was correlated with low f'

achievement in KCE mathematics. The remaining teacher o

characteristics (i.e., time spent on lesson preparation, team

teaching andogroupwork, professional qualifications, in-service

training, teaching experience, freQuency of supervision, and , '

the ~se of teach~ng aids) showed no ~elationship to achievement

in mathemat,ics'.

Husen ',5 review of the contributio,'" of teacher quali ty to .

student achievement, as reported byHeygeman et al., (1981),

indicates that the relationship between training and academic

achievement in developipg Œountries is inconsistent. '.

In about (.

half (54%) of the twenty-four ,developing 'countri'es revie~~df" a

positive relationship was reported, while over one third C37%)'

reported null relationships and.the rest (9%) negative ,

assoèiations (Heyneman et al., 1981, p. 227) •. A review by '~ -

Ava1c>s (1980, p. 46) Of) research undertaken in Asia, 'South ..,

America, ~nd Afriea alJ~ote~ equivoeal results regarding the

correlation of the level of teacher qualifications and student

achievement. Teacher qualifications were measured in terms of "'-

years of sehooling.and the possession of professional

credentials. Studies carried out by Beebout an~ Juriah in

MalBNsia and by Chand in India, a~ weIl as by Vallente in the

PhilippJnes, revealed positive correlations between teachers' e.

qualifications and examinat'ion scores. Negative correlations

were reported fromlBrazil and U9and~, whife zero c~relations!

vere reported from Kenya, Egypt, and Paraguay. Nonetheless, in

(j

o

0,

general,

"th~ better trained teacher produçes better resu1ts. While there may be evidence to suggest untrained teachers can effectively teach children literacy and numeracy, the cummulative findings in these

4 studies strongly support the notion that'trained teachers do make a difference for more advanced grades, especially for more difficu1t' subjects."

c. (Saha, 1982, p. 79)

1

12

It wou1d be unfortunate if resources spent on training teachers

'did not ~ake a ~ignif~cant impact on the quality of instruction

p~ovided in schools.

Cuttance (1980), in reviewing other literature concerning

-"-' .. school factors influencing academic achievement ob$erved that

both~t~aching experience (as represented by number of years of

teaching) and-teaching qualifications have in general been • Cl

showQ to be positive1y correlated with student achievement.

However, he observed that/such factors as-a~e, attitude to

-teaching, sex, socio-economic status, and job, s~tisfaction have

béen "of sorne importance in sorne studies, but not consistently

cross-validated" (Cuttance, 1980, p. 272). He concluded that

teaching qualifications and behaviours on the whole appear to

be ma-rginally related to academic su~cess. Sorne behaviour's

such as teacher enthusiasm, the degree of orientation of

teacher talk tq achievement, and the opportunity the student

has to learn criterion material, are significantly or

consistently related to academic achievement. However,

teacher's praise of studenti and his knowledge of the subject

have not been shown to be associated with scholastic

attainment. Rosensh~ne (1979, p. 29) reporteç that in addition

to the teacherfs enthusiasm in promoting academic success, a1so

Q

, 0

. •

.. "

)

.. . .

."

..

the clarity of the t~acher's presentati~n, his constructive

criticism of the learner and his use of various questioning )

techniques (especJally probing) were consistently relate! to

student achievement.

13

The e'ndogenous and exogenous variables discussed thus far

are by no means exhaustive of tne array of school and r,

non-school inputs which may be related to aca~emic achievement.

Suffice it to say that in t~e industrialized nations, the

socio-economic background of the learner seems to be more

important in accounting for academic' success than' school _ ~

factors. In devéloping countri~s school c~aracte~istics in 1.

general and in particular, textbook availability; hage more - .

influence on student perfo~mance than home background factors.

Money is required to buy textbooks, to train t~ach~s, and •

,.to support schools. Serious financial constr~ints exi.st. in o il>

developing countries. These coun~ries have experienced a

countries

. partly because school e~rollment in the former

.(). . ,.., has not increased gfeatly over the years •. A typica'l

OECD (Organisation for European Co-operation and Develop~ent) "

country's investment per primary school pupil in the 1980's W8~

...

. \

o

~o

estimated to be about 50 times that invested by an average

developing country during the same period (Heyneman, 1984, p • .

2~. This is despite th~ fact that most deve10ping countrJes

14 "irr

spend about a third of their national budgets on education; for

example, Ma~i invests about 33%, Malaysia 26%, and Benin 36% -

(Heyneman, 1984, p. 2).

Kenya spenqs about 30% of its public expenditures on \

education which in 1983 amounted to 194 mil1iôn Kenyan pounds l$

• b

(Republic of Kenya, 1983, p. 148). This was approximately 32

tim,es what it spent ~wenty years ear1ier." Heyneman (1984) bas

remarked in re9ar~ to financing educ~tion in developing • 1'1 0

countries that nover nine-tentbs of this investment has to be

a1located to teacher salaries" (Heyneman, 1984, p. 2). For lr " ~

Ken~a, nearly 90% o~ the education, budget for primary schoo~s'

goes into teachers' salaries, wn~le 65% of that for secondary ,

education is spent on teachers, salaries as weIl., At the l-,

university level, about 60% of the funds allocated is used to 1

pay for lecturers' and professors' salarie~ (Eshiwani, 1~83,.p.

39). This mea~s that a very small proportion of the education

budget is used to improve instructional cond~tionsl e.g. to

purchase laboratory equipment, books, charts, and motlels and to' - ,

support teacher education programmes and resea·~h.,·

/

, ,

, 1

. -

./

"

, '" ,

• 1

fi

- "

15 ,

1.2 b ~

Kenya1s EducatIon System. Il

,

Kenya's formal education system has its r09ts in the

actiyity of European missionaries during the seventy yeaL's of" '" /. . }

colonial rule. During t~is pijri6d education was "infuse~ ~ith

British content, pnictice, and ethos" (Eshiwani', 19S3', p. 20h

Further, the administration of the educatlon syètem wa~ along

racial lines (European, Asian; anèf African) .u'nti11960 w'he,n " e

A&i~n'and African childr~n wer~ admitted into European

,

s~condary s6hoo1s 10r the first~time. The admiSsion of Asian r

an& Af~ican children into~Eu~opean ~rimary schools occurred two

years; later (St-abler, 1969, p. 20). Despite the iact that the 9-

~fricans constituted the màjority 9f Kenya's population (97% 'in

·1953), the i r representant i'on in educat i on l' part icular ly in the , / .'

ppst-primary schooling, was ~ery low (Stabler, 1969, j: 21). o

For example /. in 1964, out of 25,903 students' (European~' Asian,

and African) in secondary ~cho01S, only 'S,.03j" were 'Ah-l'cans " .

(Eshi\lanl, 1983, p-. 21). The situation was virtua11y the same

at independence a yeat 1ate~. By 'this time there was a great

need for' îndigenous skilled manpower in various government

m~ni~~ri~s as weIl as in"the private dector •• , Thé new independent government ;soon took r~sponsibi1ity."

, , " "to.r a secula.r educé\"tio~al system that a1s~ resp~cted ~he

faiths ot aIl communities and individua1s whi1e contin~ing to

", welcome the :part icipat ion' of mi~sions .ar:-d' indi vidu~ls" ~

(Eshi wan i, 1983, p. 21). pur~uant to th'ia moye " an Educa.t i9n

Commission was set up to review and expiicitly define . '-l . ..

educa~ional policy for the nation. This commission, the Kenya.

Education Co~ission (1964)"Qut1ined a number pt national

J

" .

, ..

",

o , .

o

1

, .

-

, " ( ,

-'

.'

_ .. ~ . '

16

.obj~etives for èdueation which continue ta gui4e educational

, ,poliey. The objectives were:

, ,1

. '

- , ..

to p~omote national unit y;

to serve the people ot Kenya an~Vne~dS . ,/

of the " country·without discrimination;

e. to .respect the religious convictions of aIl peopl~; ,

. d. to respect the cul tt/ra l t radi t i ons of a Il people;

e. to make" everyone' rea1ise that they have a valtiable

part to pla~ in nation building;

f.

.g •

h.

\ i.

, '

'to ~se education as an instrument for positive,change

of attitudes in line with modern times regard~ng' .f

productive organ~zations while at the same time

respec ting- human per sona1 i ty; .

to'serve the needs of national development;

to promote social equality and train 'people Iiegarding

social responsibility and obligation; an~J

to foster adaptability ~o change.

(Republic of Kenya, 1964, p. 25).

Since independence, ;~uca~ional polic~ has been guided by ~

other reports as welt, nota~ly ~hose of the National Commission '&

on Edue~tion~l'Obj~ctiveD and Polici~s (1978) and the

Presidential Working Party 'on the Seçond Unive~ity (198la~. ,

The purpose of these cOMmissipns has been. to ~lo~k into ,way~

and means.of achievi'ng tpe national educational objectives" • mentioned abov~ (Republic of Kenya, 1984a; p. v). A.~ajor

outçome of the '1981 report was the r.eo.rgBl1izati.on o,f the' ,

Thé,~ new system educational system into B·n 8':'4-4 pa~tern. o ,

f

F, ",~r

"

..

. .

"

"

"

f o'ur y.ear s.

, '

, ,

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\ 1

However, the total number,of years of schooling

from primary io univers~ty remained the same as betore (16); \

17

,., what changed was the' structure of the educational system from '. ..

. 7-6-3 to a-4-~. A1so, the Kenya Junior Secondary Examination, l' ~ ( r , '

a term.inal:- test ~or many students' enro~led in non-gov,e~nment . ,

.main.tain.ed:secondary séhools was discontinued .

The n:umber of.: schoo1s, pupils, and teachers has grown "c.... t;,

',tremendously ,since indep~ndence, especiVly at the primary and , . ihe ~econdarY'school levels. For'example, in 1963 there were

6,058 primar~school~ vith 891,553.pupils and 22,772 teach~rs, , 'C 1 .. as compared-' to 10,,268 such schools wi th 3,931,500 pupi 15 and

.,

-'

102,489 teache\rs in 1980 (Eshi·wani, 1983" p. '24). In 1983" the

number of primary school children waS 4,323,~22 showing an

increase of. 385% since independence" twenty. years ea'rlfer ,

(Eisemon, Eshiwal"!i and "Rajwani, 1986) ~ : • 1 1

AS far as the secondary .

school-s a're concerne'tl,. t,here we,re 151 schools w i th ~.l, 120

students and a teaching staff of 1,602:in ~963. .

The number of , \

teachers had increased to 15,916 by 1980. They were emp10yep Ci '.

- in 1,682 schools wi th a total student enrollment of ~10, 626 . "

(Eshiwani, 1983, p. 27). The numbe~:6f secondary scho61s now

(1986) is 2,705 (Lillis, 1986, p. 8).

The Kenyan school system is highly selective even at the' . \ ,

~

primary level (Eisemon et al., 1986). While acc~ss to

schoo1i'ng is limited, selection is meritocratic':- b-Edng~ based

Jon-a ~tud~nt's-performance on e~aminations. Access to quality

\ '.

~

/

.---

o "

'0

,.

0-

o

18 ,

education ,is an important,', fa~or limi ting or enhancing' levels'

of ~ducational attainm~nt. In' Kenya, and most African

countries, qua1ity education' tends to be provided' in the publi~ , '

'S-ect~r. Nevertheless, there are d,ifferences âmong schools

, regarding such aspects as teachers' academic and professional

qualifications. and school facilit-ies. In Ken'ya these

differences are parti~ularly noticeable betw~en government , ,

-' schools and thos~ spd'nso'red by .indivi~ual communitieso' '

At 1 the secondary s'chool level government schools 'are of li .

two types, pr~vihcial, and extra-'-provincial schpo'Is. Both types' . . of institutions are maintaiQed by the gOl1ernment,; this mea'ns'

, that they recieve grants to aug~ent tbe money collecte~ from

student fees. These funds are used to maintain school

buildings, meet transportation coSts, ~nd ?urc~ase school

supplies suc~ as laboratory apparatus, chemicals, textbooks, e, 1

and st'atlonery. The governmerit also posts teachers to 1 these ,

schools, through the Teachers Service Commission. The majority . ,

of these teachers are profes?ionaliy t'rained. AlI the

headmaste~s and-headmistresses in charge-of extra~provrn~ial ". , ' ,

and ~iovincial schools are qualified'secondary school teachers.

The curriculum followed by both the extra-provincial and'

provincial sch601~ is obtained f~om the'Mini~try of Educ~tion, . ,

Science and Technology • . , ,

- . The extra~provincial schools, numbering about two dozen, ,

(Kenya N~tiona1 Exa,minations,Council, 1981e},-recruit their, 0>

· ,studenfs from aIl provinces in the R~pub1ic on' a quota basis.

They -are f'-or this' ~eason a1so referred to as "national .

catchment schools" .(Somerset, 1974, p. 7,1). T,he maj~r i ty of

i •

19 , <

!,

,the stu~e~ admitted into theseoschools have the best primary

school 1eaving graqes in the country. Due t6 the quota polil!y

of recruitment, there are a few~stu~ents in'each . ,

extra-provinciaJ school with lower secondary sch~ol entry

qualifications than maoy of the students admitted into

provincial schools. This situation Js c,r;~at~d by the fact that «

sorne of the districts are not ,able te fill their qubta w~~h top, ,

CPE achievers. Some.of'the extra-provincial schools are ~high

cost" while others are "low cost", the f~rme~ charging extra

~ fees to meet the cost of providing bett~r food and redreationa1

facilities. The current (1984) çharge for tuition in

extra-provi~cial schools is 1,350 Kenya shillings (Cdn ,$ 135) , ,

per student peT year. In addition, parents pay for the cost of

uniforms and other items requir~~ by the schools. Part of the

tui~on fees is used to provi~e for stud~nt textbooks. ,

provincial schools restrict reçruitment to their

respective provin~es, hertce their descriptiQn a~ "local ~ " <to

'.

,," 1

catchment schools" '(Soqterset, 1974, p. 72). These s'choo1s_

recruit students from the pool of app1icants 1eft after the • ,

~xtra-piovincial instit~tions have made theii seleciio~s. \

- However, since the extra-provincial schools are to~ few io take -

in all'CPE candidates 'with top secondary schoo1 ehtry

qua1ificat~ons"many of the stude~ts ~dmitted'into'provincial " .

schools have' high CPE scores. Most of the students attendin9, . .

provincial schools come from the districts in which the schools ~

'are loçated. Current1y there, are about fJve hundred provincial

~chools in the country (Kenya";.Nati,onal Examinations Council"

1985, p. 2). Beth the ext~a7pr9vincial and provincial schools

, .

, -

, 1

_ ,>_ 1

l ,

\

. '

. --_._-----....,..,--;----------------­-- ","

20 . make up about 22.6% ,of aIl- secondary schools in the country

(Lillis, 1986, p. 8) . .

In aàditio~ t~ provincial and extra-provincial second~ry , , -

schoo1s, there is one other major t~pe of- secondary school in

~en'y~, namel,Y, the Harambee se,condery s,chool. Harambee schools

are built, financed, and managed by local communities in , '

response to the continuous shortage of places in gov~rnment

schools. Cften the communities'organize public fund-raising

.~ meetings to receive donations from local and national ..

, "

O·

o .

~--- -.'

politicians, firms, and individuais in the spirit of harambee " (meaning "let's pull or work together"). If a Harambee school

meets the stan1ards for school facilities set by the School

Inspectoiate it can receive assistance from the government in t

form of trained teachers, including a headmaster or a ,

head~istress. For this reason such institutions are known as

"Harambee Assisted" secondary schools. In order for a Harambee

school to obtain government aid, it should first nm~ster enough .. r resources on i ts own •.. ," (K~ller, 1975, p. 4) through self-help

activities.

Several factors have made it possible for the emei~ence

and subsequent pr~ol i ferat ion of Harambee seconda,ry schools.

One lS the assumption that the more education one receives the

more money one would earn, which in turn wou1d lead to a better

standard of living (Court and Ghai, 1974, p. 3.4; ~eller, 1975,

pp. 2-3). Hence a community's interest in c~eating 5~condary

school opportunities for their .chi1dren lS stimu~ated by'the

desire to enab1e them to improve their chances of competing

favourab1y for the few jobs available to the ~ducated elite. --> .

...,....,...........-~----_._---_.~--;-~--- ."

(

" ,

~~,.;

,-

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21 .1

The chances of them 'finding employmeryt improve with higher ,

/ examinatiol'\ qualifications (Oke11o, 1982/ p. Il)." .'

The rapid expansion of primary school population is'

, another ~actor contribut ing te> the estab1 i shmènt of Haradlbe~ ,

schools.' Since indep~ndence (1963), the number of ~laces in'

gove"nm~n\t-aided seCO~da~y ,schools has not increased fast '1 '

enough to absorb the large number of primary Sd~ool leavers', ,

desirin~ sec~ndary education. The erection of Many Haramb,e \' secondary schools is an attempt to contain the situation. The

"Harambee" scheme has made it possible for villages able to

r

rais~ the necessa,ry financial support to construct' and maintain ,. \ ,.; ,

secondary schools for ~ocal children. .

Inc~uding, the "As·sisteô" institutions, there are 1,,921

~a~ambee secondary schoo1s in Kenya this year (4i11is, 1986, R.

- 8). Admission iota these schools is not as competi,tive a~ for ~

extra-provincial and provincfal schools. Students attending

Harambee schools, 1ike MOst of those attending priv.ate schools

(described below), have the poorest primary schoo1 leavîng

scores sinee they are recruited from the pool of seeondary

school applicants remaining after the extra-prov~ncial and

provincial schools have made their selection. The majo~ity of

_ 1 th* Harambee scqooi students come from the surrounding ,

communiti,és in whi·ch the scho~ls are located. In general, a ' ,

'~ Haramb~e, sch?ols charge. higher fees tha'n do government

maintaine,d schools mainly because they laêk financial -support l , '

frQm the government and they desperate}y need mone~'not o~ly to

pay teachers but ta improve their teaching, 'office, and 'staff '- '

housing fac11ities. The student tuition fee is between 1,200

, ,

< •

, ,

, f ,,'

\ . 1\

o ,,\

.. -- ,

'. ,

and, 1,500 Kenya shillings (C~n $ 120 - 150') per annum., .. In·~

adcU t ion'r parents are- requi req to pay for uni forms and

22

contribute towards a ", "Harambee'n school fund of about 2'..00 to 400::" ,

Keny~ shillings (Cdn $ 20 - 40) pe! family per year: Li-ke the ..

extra-provincial a}ld provinc ial school;;, Hâramb~e, s.econdary .....:,.;. .. 1

schools follow the curriculum determined by the Ministry of

Education, Science and Techno1cig'. l A fourth typP. of seco~dary school in Kenya 1s the private

schoql. Like the Harambee schools, private schools have been

e~tablished ,in response to the incrreasing demand for sÊ4:ondary ~ ;

education due to th, rapid expansion 'in primarl school :1

enrol1ment oyer the yea~s. Private schools are propri , ..

i,nsti tut ions, a few of ~ich are recogn i sed by the publ ic as , 1 ... ~

offering as'good'a guality of education as that offered by most~ . . extra:-provinq;ial and provincial schoois. Most students in

private schools have low primary 'school leaving.qualifications

like those admitted into Harambee schools. 'Currently ther~ are

173 private secondary schoQls in the country, com~rising about ~

6.4% of th.e total number'of'seconda~y schools in Kenya '(Li1lis, , ,

. '\' 1986, p. 8). Most of these s~hools charge highe~ fees than

, . -.... "

both the government maintained secondary, schools and the Sl

'. • 0 Harambee schoo1s. These fees' can be as high as 10,000 to . ...

o

15,000 Kenya shillings (Cdn $ 1,009 - 1,500) per student p~r

year.

"' The shortage of secondary school places was, fel 't as early \

as the 1940's and 1950's due to' the expansion of primary

'èducation (Indire, 1982, po' 130). After j{e.nyà attained , "

pçlitical independence in 1963, the demand'for secondary .

. .

..

"

(:.

·tf

,"

':0

• c

, 1

, 1

23

education increased trem~ndously. , - The number of secondary . '. /

schools rose from 150 in 1963 to-1165 in 1975. Of these, 700

were Harambee sch~ols. The number of students enrolled in

th~se ioo schools represented about. 47% of the'total secondary

s~hqol student popula~ion in 1975 .. (Indire, 1982, p. 132). This

petcentage has increased in recent years. _According to

relatively recent estimates (1981) about 70% 'of the secondary

school student population is in Harambee secondary schools , '

~(Republic of Kenya, 1981b, P: 67). Further, of the present , ' . 2,705 secondary schools in Kenya, 1,921 (71%) are Harambee

schools - (Lillis, 1986, p. 8).

1:2.1 E!aminations

Expansion at the primary level has' Qeen far ahead of that . ~-at the secondary le~el thereby encouraging stiff competition ih

1 which about a third of the primary school gradua tes gain access - ::\----- -= ,

to secondary education :in gove'rnment maintained-and other 1

institutions. pupiis entering a~y se~qndary s~hool in Ken~a Q 0

are nor'mally about twelv~ to thirteen, years old,' have 'completeQ ,

seven y~ars of primary education, and sat for the C~rtificate

of Primary Educjtion (~PE) examinatio~ .. This e~amination.has

served both as the ~ulmination of ele~entary education and as

a se1ectibn device for recruitment of students into secondary ~ . " . school. It has been used in"this ,manner since 1966 (Republic

. of Kenya, 1979a, p. 35), replacing the Kenya Primary Education'

"

(KPE) examination 'inherited ~r?m the colonial period. In 1979, .

281,689 CPE.graduands competed for secondary,school admission

(Repub1i~ of Kenya, 1979a, p. 35) anQ th~ number continues to

.. " "

o

...

"

•

o

, ,

rise. The CPE examination was set for. the last time in 1983.

Beginning in. 1985, a new selection and terminal examination, ,

the K~nya Certificate of Prîmary Education (KCPE) will be

admini stered.

The CPE examination consisted of three pape'I's,' namely,

English, mathematics, and the general paper (which com~rised

science, geography, history, and civ~cs). The standards of o •

24

this examination were quite high and rigorous as illustrated by

the first three paragraphs of an English language composition

written by one of the best 1980 CPE'candidatès:

, ,

1 walked towards them guick1y ••••.

"1 walked towards them quickly •• ~ •• wonde~ing. l soon learnt that the strange man was a rich man who wanted someone to look after his cattle. He was called Mr. Malasi and lived in the neighbouring village, ~umbe. My father had agreed that l should go and earn sorne money to help my brothers and sisters since they did not go to school. My father thought that l had already had enough education, nand it was time 1 started fending for myself. Ofcourse l didn't want to go. With only six and a half years of education who would employ me when 1 no longer looked after cattle?'Às big as 1 was, 1 could not help crying.. ,,'

Satarday soon came. 1 ~oke up early and went to visit Sally; our only cow. 1 could not bear the thought that 1 might never see her·again. My mother had packed my clothes, a few books and a little food for the journey. Mr. Malasi came to pick me in a red pick-up van soon after breakfast. As 1 waved good-bye, 1 thought 1 saw my mother'crying. After aIl wasn't 1 her eldest Son? 1

We trundled on the dusty, dirty road for an ho~r unti1 we re~phed the main road. 1 wondered what fate

-lay ahead of me. When we reached Mr •. Malasi' s farm 1 noticed that it was ten times bigger than my father's farm. Mr. Malasi's wife came to greet me. She was not a cheerful person. Intact she looked s~1ky.. 1 was shown where !. was going to sleep. l t was a wooden hut rough1y furnished with a table, chair and a bed. 1 feit quite proud of it.· 1 nad never had a room to myse1f". '

(Kenya National Examinat.ions Council, 1981a, pp. 11 ... 12).

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This composition was awarded 39 out of a maximum of 40 D

marks. The examiners, who used the 'impression' method o~

scor<Îng'i a\larded marks on the b~sis of "accuracy", "fluency",

and "imagination" displayed by the candidate. According to the - ~ ~

Kenya National Examinations Council, only four mistakes were

deteéted in tbis compositi?n. These included one spelling, , c

error (not in th~ above paragraphs) ~nd three cases where the )

candidate combined two words into one '(e.g. Ofcourse and

Infact). "

The maximum aggregate points for the CPE examination was --~------ ---

36. This is ~quivalent to three "A" grades. Before the .

intFoduction of tQhe quota system of selecting students into

s,econdary school severa1 years ago, extra-prov.incial sçhools

used to select only student~ with the highest CPE grades. Now

the extra-provincial schools recruit on a quota basis admitting

some students from remote distrfcts with CPS scores as low as

22 points (Ng'weno, 1984, p. 3). However, the Harambee

secondary schools still recruit their students from the

population that did not obtain admission into the government

schools. AlI together, 35% of primary school ~ea~ers find

places in secon,ry scho?ls ,(Daily Nation, 1985b, ~. 17).

Beginning ln 1984, Kenya introduced an 8-4-~ system of

educa~ion. In this system, chi1dren will complete 8 years of

primary schooling before goin9 on to secondar~ school. ~n 1984

neither the CPE or the KCPE examination was administered.

Conseq~ently, no selection for Form 1 (first year in secondary

~choQl) was done in 1985. Form 1 selection took place early (,)

this year (1986). As the Kenya National Examinations Council's

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KCPE sample papers (1984) reveal, the KCPE will be ess~ntially "

similar to its predece~sor (Eisemon, 1986). However, the new

primary examination includes such subjects as agriculture, arts",

and crafts, home science, Kiswahili (the national language),

reli.giou'S educati~, and music which were not tested ,in the CPE

examination. • In a?dition, continuous assessment will be used as a

separate form of evaluation. Like the KCPE, continuous

Çoassessment will cover all subj~cts in the school' curriculum and

will be conducted by school teachers "under the 9uidance of the , . Ministry of Education, Science and Technologyh (Republiê of

Kenya, 1984b, p. xv).- The ~inistry will issue a certificate

(to be known as the Kenya primary Leaving,Certificate) on the

basis of the continuous assessment, while the Kenya

Examinations Counci1 will issue a~other certificate for the

final wricten examination (the Kenya Certificate'of Primary , . " Education or KCPE). Both certificates will be used in

recr~iting students for secondary school and further training

(Republic of Kenya, op. cit., p. xvi).' In 1985, about 360,000

candidates from 12,500 primary schools wrote the KéPE

examination which examined ten subj~cts in six papers (Oaily

N~tlon, 1985a, p. 12). The six papers co~sisted of English;

Kiswahili; mathematics; science and agriculture; geography, "

history, civics and religious education; art, craft, home ---.

science, and music.

Prior to the introduction of othe 8-4-4 system, studen'ts

completed four years in secondary s.choo1 before si tting for a

national examination known as the Kenya Certificate of

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.27

Education (KCE). This examination will continue to be offered

until the end' of 1987 when"it will be phased out and replaced

. by the Kenya Certificate o.f Secondary Education (KCSE)·

examinatïon' wh'ich will be -written for 0 the first time in 1989 by . ,

the stuBents admitted ùnder the, 8-4-4 plan. The KOE

examination is commonly referred to as the '0' level

examination because it sucêeeded the Cambridg~ School ~ \ .

'-

Certificate examination which was set and marked by the , "

\ University of Cambridge ~:cordtng to England's GCED(General

. Certi f icate of Education) Ordinary Level Examinat ion' s ,

. regulations. . Q

-'- AlI togèther, the Kenya Nfltional Examinations Counc i,l sets

KCE examinations ,fdr seventy different subjects such as English

language, li terature in English, ~u9ha ya Ki'swahil~iswahili language), fasihi ya Kiswahili (literature in Kiswahili),

history, geography, Christian religious education, French, . "- . Hindi, mat~ematics, physics, chemistry, biology, art, music,

wood technology, electrical engineering, qpme science, physical

science, commerce' and general science (Kenya National p

Examinations Council, 1981c, pp. 2-4). In practice however,

m'ost schools of fer ten to fi f teen of the 70 subjec ts ow i n9 to

the shortage of funds, teaching staff, and resources. Fewer . ,

examinations (thirty-two) are set .for the lA' level subjects

(Kenya National Examinations Council, 1981d, p. 5).

The KCE examination scripts are graded on a 9-point scale.

Both 1 and 2 rep.rese1'lt "di st inct ions" (1 be i n9 a bet ter score

than 2), while "credits" are represented by 3, 4, 5, or 6 in.a

desgending order ôf quality of achievement. An "ordinary pass"

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is represented by either a 7 or an 8. Grade 9 is a failu~e.

Candidates are.categorised into v~~ious groups ca11ed

"Divisioqs" on the basis 'of the t'otal numbe-r of points obtained ft '

in six best subject scores. There are four Diviaions, l

through IV. Candidates awarded Division l certificates are "

those who achieve the best overall grades in the RCÈ

examinations. For a candidàte to obtain Division l he o~ she

must obtain at least a credit in both mathematics and one of

the language examinat40ns. This is not ~equired for other , division standings. The highest (i.e. best) aggregate score

, . for a Division l rank is 6 points while the lowest is 23.

Divison II ranges from 24 to 33 points. A -candidate obtaining

54 points is classified as a "Failure". -

The purpose of the KCE examination is to select s~udents

for the 'next tier of secondary education (known as 'A' 1evel

for a similar reason as for 'Ol, level). Abo~t 10% of the KCE }

candidates sec ure 'A' leve1 places (Daily Nation, 1985b, p.'

17). Usua11y aIl Division 1 and sorne of the Division II

holderi are admitted into Form V (first year in 'A' level).

'A' level students fini?h tw,o y~of instruct ion before '"

sitting for the Kenya Advanced Certificate of Educa~on (KACE).

This examination will be administered for the 1ast time in 1989

when the first group of students admitted under the 8-4-4 plan

will wrife the proposed examination (Kenya Secondary Education

~xamination) for the first time. The KACE examination·consists

of subjects similar to those offered at '0' level~ Most

candidates register for three subjects in either arts (e.g.

history, geography, and Christian religious education), or , ,-

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science (e.9: cbe~i~try, biologYI and physics) sub~ects,

Passes in these subjects are categorised as either "principal"

or "subsidiary" passès, the former being of higher quality •

KACE-candidates gain ent~y into university throu~h stiff , 1

cO,mpetition in which about 30%_,~are se1ected. (Eshiwani, 1983, p.

3g)~ Those not se1ected for univer~ity educ,~ion, either jol~ , ,

other post-secondary training institutions such as the Kenya , '

~olytechnic and dipl~ma ~eatlier training colleges or secure o

employrnent in the private and public sectors. , , wi th the recent

estab~ishment (1985) of two more universiti~s in the country, a .v

greater number' of secondary school graduates will now be able

to receive university educati9Q~ ,

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.CHAPTER.. .TWO , •

\. ':.

METHODOLOGY,~ND. STUOY éHARACTERISTICS ~. [t'J;. II'-, .. , ;-.J ~ ..... \

The purpose of this chapter is''''to outline . ,

a. the methods used in the selection of the schools and

of headmast~r/headmistress, teacher,' and studerit

samples; \ -

b. the methods used to collect data; • >

c. the stiü i st ical· techn iques employed to ~naly.se thf! data;

d. the characteristics of ,the schools selected for' the major \

survey wi th r~spect tq' the number of subjectÎs offered, .

the quality of students admitted, and ~he instructiqnai

resources avài lable'.

In aIl, Bine schools were chcrsen for this' study. Three of ~,î

, these were used for a pilot study while the remaining six were

involved in the final survey. The three pilot schools 1

consisted of one extra-provincial, one provincial, and one

Harambee school. Jf the six schools studied in the second

phase of the research, there were two schools of each type. No

private schools 'were studied due to tpe high de9re~ of·

variability among these institutions and 'to the fact that they

account for a very small proportion of secondary school

enrollment •

. In the main survey, the two Harambee institutions offered

physical science instead of distinct chemistry and physics

courses.. One of the provincial schools als~, offered physical

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science. The' rèmaining three schools (two extra.provincial and <'

one pr"èvinc ial) of f e.re'd 'separa te chemi stry and physics courses. 1 /

Six school heads, thirty-t?ree ~cience/mathematics

teachers and 478 students were surveyed. Four headmasters and " , " '.' ~ ,

two headmist resses were interviewed' 'alon9 wi th twenty-tnree of • A

,th,~. 33 sc~ence fd mathematics teachers who I~erè teaching ,these

subject:~ to Form IV students at the time of the surve'y. The

student sample consisted of 287 boy's and 191 g"ir1s.

2.1 Selection of the region for the study

While it is recognized that a country-wide survey' wo.uld. be , 1

preferred to a regional 6ne, fina~cial constraints' did not ,

permi t such 'an' undèrtaking. o

, Klambu district, outside of

N~irobi, wes selected for the study oecause, it had an açequate \ '

numb.er of the three- types of schools needed for the ~u!vey,

namely, extra~pro~incial, provincial, and Harambee secondary

schools. -

2.2 Selection of study samples

The Keny~ Ce'rti~icate of Education (KCE) subject -

registration l~st for 1984, which was obtained from the Kenya

National Examinations'Council, served as a 9uide~in·the

select i on of" particul~r schopl !?,. Thi s' li s~ conta'i ned 11~

~chools, seven of which were extra.-provincial, -32 provincial,

75 Harambee, and 5 private schools~ ,

Thè KCE 1 l'st also indicated' the subjects the candidates

registered for in the ~984 KCE examinations. The secondary

level ·subjects identifieêl [for the study we.r-e· mathematics,

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cliemistry, biology, physics, and physical scie,nce. AlI 1984-

KCE candidates were requireq to take ma'thematics and at least 1

one science subject in the examinati~s. Sc.hools may offer

,general science (consi'stin~ of bi'Ology, chemistry and p~ysics),

biology, chemistry, physics, ~r physical science (consistiog of ,

physics and chemist~y). However, the offerin~ of a science , , .

subject other than general sci~nce, by ariy school, d~pends on

\ • 1

both the availability of qualified staff and adequate l ,

fabpratory facilities. The Inspecto~ate Divisien of the ,

Ministry of Educatlon, Science and Techn?logy is charged with .

the responsibi1ity. of ensuring that these two requirements, are

met. Such 'conditions are ,not required for schools 'wishing to

oUer. general sc ience. ,

The 1984 KCE registration list revealed that aIl

e~tra-proovinciai 'schools' registered' thei'r students for physics

and chemlstry,papers. flTone of the extra-provincial schools, ' . }

offered ëither th~ gener'al science or the physical science

programme to i ts st\}dents:. M\.1st of ,the provi,nc ial schools

(84%) and.â few of the Harampee schools (17%) offered physical

science. Thus, the, majority of the Haramb.ee' schools registered­

their students fqr general science. However, it was,decided

tbat sinee the content of the physical .science syllabus wa"s

closer to that of the physics and chemistry syl1abi, only

Harambee schools offeriog physical science would be involv.ed in

this study.

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2.~.1. Selection of' extra-provincial ichools

In aIl, there were,se~en schools frbm which .to choose.

'One was eliminated because only a few of ,its students were ., .

règis~ered. for KCE science. A second school 'was .excluded r

because i t, qid not

. . 33

, ,

remaining two were

~ffer ,biOl09Y • of the 'f~ve sqhools '

bhys' schoolstanët,three,were for '91'rls. lt ' . \

was dec'ided that one o'f the ~oyg',sc~ools would be involved in "

the pilot study while th~ other bo'ys' school and one girls" .

s~hool would~be involved in the final survey.

~2.i.2 Selection of provincial schools

Six d,f the 32 provincial. schools were' exclu.ded from the

sur vey ,for, one or two rea;;ons: p less than twente st ude~ts

~ere regi s~ered for one of the sc ience subje~ts ,'chosen for

s~udy, or ii} the school only offered the,general.science

progra~me. Two girls' schools and one boys' school were . -

randomly select~d fro~ the remaining twenty-six scnools. One

of the 9irls' schools was in<?luded in the pilot study,'Jleaving

a girls' ànd a boys' schoçl f9r inclusion in the s~rvey •

. 2.2.3 Selection of Harambee schools

The two elimination criteria used in the selection of

provincial schools were also applied here. This excluded 63 of

the 75 Harambee schools leaving twelve schools available for

further seleciion. Th~~~ were randomly selected; one wa~ . " ,

included inOthe pilot study while the other two were involved

i~ the main survey •.

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2.2.4 . The schools selected

- . In 'aIl, ·nlne schools were se'lee'teo for· the ent'~re study.

r The'list of the nine schools appea~~ in Appendix.B. 'Three of

these schools (numbered l, 2, and 3) were 1ncluded for the

pilo~ stud'y while the rest formed the sample for the. final • .f

~urvey. In the pi lot study, ~here was one boys'

34-

~xtra-provincial school, one girl$' provincial school, and one'

~ co-educatioAal Harambee school., The final survey sample , • ~ il •

consisted of two l;>oys" sC,hools (one. ex'tra-provincial and one o

provincial), ~wo. gi~ls' schools '(one extra-provincial and one (Î'

provincial), and two co~educational'Harambee schools.

; , "

2.2:5 Selection/of headmasters/headmistresses and téachers

AlI the headmasters ~nd he~dmistresses o~ the selected

schools constituting th~ school administrators were

interviewed, a's were aIl the sc ience and mathe.matics teachers

teaching these .s'ubjects ·te:> Form IV students. " .

2.2.6 Seleètion of students

,Classes of .Form IV students in the selected schools formed. J

~he student sample for the s~rvey. There were 'a number of

reasons'why Form IV students were chosen in preference to those

',in othere classes.' rn thé first place, none of the Harambee • . schools in Kiambu district had A-level (Forms V and VI) stie~ms

(i.e. Forms or classes). Secondly, selecting Form IV students

would make it possible to obtain measures 6f academic

achieve!l'ent 'from one common external source, namely, 'the Kenya

National Examioations Council (KNEC). These measures would be

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in the form of scores in various science and mathematics papers

that were set and marked by the K~EC. Simi la'r achievement -.. '

measures'could have been obtained fo~ the Form VI candidates

but not for students in Harambee schools. , "

t

2.3 Methods of data collection

Data were collected throu'gh the use of inter'J~~ws, . èlassroom reco,rdings, and questionnaires (see A~,pend;.ces

'~ . . . C,D,E) • Three types of quest~onnaires were used: the Secondary

School Administr~tors Questionnaire '(SSAQ)" the S~condary

Science Teacher Questionnaire '(SSTQ), and the Secondar'y Science

Studen t Quest ionna i re (SSSQ). - The developmen.t and

admin~tration of· these questionnaires follows.

)

2.~.1 Questionnaire development and administration

Original'versi6ns çf the thr~e questionnaires ~ere

administered to school heads, science and mathematics t~achers

of' Form IV students, and the Form JV stuâents theÎnselves at .. . ,

three pilot secondary schools in Kiambu distri,ct, Kenya. On'

the basis of the feedback from these schools, final versions of.

the questionnaires were prepared. The finalised instruments l

which were administered at the six sch~ols s'elected for t'he '"

major survey, are discussed below. f,l!

1

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. . . L. The headmasters' /headmistresses t questionnaire

( . The SSAQ was a 16-item instrument constructed to obtain

al' ~ . mainly descriptive information 'pertaining to each school s.uch n

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as the total..student population, class sizes, regionalorigin

of students, Form l entry qual!fica~ions and also the school o

head's perception of the relative effect of certain factors Il '

(e.g. teacher qualifications and teaching facilities) on .

acadèmic achievement. A copy of the SSAQ was' given to èach • >

'school head to complete. This questionnaire appears in

Appe.ndix C.

, ii. The teachers' guestionnaire

The SSTQ was ~esigned for mathemati~s and science teachers .<.

teaching Form IV ,students i.n thesè courses. The questionnair~

format was based on the International Association for the

Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) studies of the

1970'5 and 1980'5 which sought to estab1ish how students :from

different developed and developing countries performed on

common international achievement tests in such subjects as

. science, reading comprehension, French and English (Comber and

'" Keeves, 1973; Pea~er, 1975; Inke1es, 1979, pp. 366-407).~ Sorne

of the items considered relevant t? this study were taken from

the 1980 IEA.science studY/an~ mod~fied • .. , Each 'teacher was given a copy of' the question'nai re' for

comp1etion. ~his instrume~t is reproduced iQ ~ppendix D. The

questionnaire sought information r~9arding the profes,sional and tl

academic qualifications of the respondent and-the type of

teaching methods' he or she ~ormally used.

iii. The student.' questionnaire

Th~ students' questionnaire was designed for

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8dmini~tiation' to the J984- KeE candidateS'. The first three

, p6rtions of the qu~stionnaire soùght information relating to

the student' s' ~ex, and th.: subjects he o,r she had registered'

for in the 1984 KCE e~aminations. The fourth portion, which ..

was based on the IEA studies questionnaire (Peaker, 1975, pp.

37

199-294), consisted of 21 Likert-type -items wbich $9ugh~'the '

students' opinio~ regarding how easy or difficu1t and how . . , ' , ,

en j of 8ble/they found science and mathematics to be.' The final

section 0 the 'questionnaire enquired aboui the leve1 of

educatiori and type of occupation ~hat the students' _parents had,

attained. ,The students i quest~onnaire is reproc;Iuc~d under

Appèndix E.

Following a formaI introdùction by the school head or

his/he,r appointee, the lnvestigator outlined the purpose of his

visit and subs_equent1y distributed the questionnaires to the . students. 'The students ,were asked to write their KCE

_~- re:i~tration number at the top of the ~nt page of the

!questionnaire and then proceed to complete the,instrum~nt. The "

KCE ïndex numbèrs were elicited .to permit the comparison of KCE

result~ to Certificate ~f Primary Edu~ation (CPE) grades that '.

were obtained from the official records of the schools studied.

,2.3.2 l t}· , n erVleW51 .

AlI interviews were informally conducted through

di~cussions rather than through a set of structured questi~n . , and answer forms. This informaI strategy was preferred tç .. .. ~ ...

other techniques ~s it was felt that Oit would. create a more

relaxed a·tmosphere thereby encouraging mor,e complete respoose

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from the interviewees. The purposc of the interviews was to ,

. elicii information that would supplement both the questionnaire 1 •

',' information an~/~he c,lassroom observations. For example, in

order to' find out how suitable teachers' schemes of work were

-

in the prepar~tion o~ students for the KÇE examinations,

teachers were asked to ,explain how frequently these scherI!,es

were checked by school ,inspectors and headmasters or

headmistresses and the ~ind of suggestions offered to them.

At each school three groups of people~were il*erviewed~

the headmaster/headmistress, Form IV science and mathematics

teachers, and Form IV students. The interviews with the 1 ~

-teachers were to elicit information reg~rding the teaching of

science and 'mathematics. The factors they thought cont:,ibuted

to stupent achievement in the national examinations were "<

discussed. In al~" twenty-threE7, of the 33 science and . '.

mathematics teachers were" interv,iewed. Seven of these were

f ~om extra-pr.ovinc ia,! scb.?0ls, eleven f rom provi nc iaI schools,

and five from Harambee schools. Five Form IV students from

each school :~ere also interviewed. The stuqent interviews

focused on two matters: the séience and mathematics subjects " ,

they found easy or difficult and the factors they considered ,

significant contributors to, their academic success in the, KCE 1

examinations.

2.3.3 ' Classroom~recordings

, A number of audio recQrdings of classroom teaching were

made, during the final phase of the survey. The recordings"were .

used for illustrative purposes to indicate possible sou~ces of .

, "7

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G. variation among the three kinds of schools regarding

prepara tions for the KCE t!~aminations.t Biology, chemi?stry, 1

physics, and mathematics ressons were recorded. In total, 22

lessons were recorded, eight of which were at both

extra-provincial and provincial schools and six at Harambee , .

schools.

2.4 Statistical methods used in data analyses

39

Three statistical methods were used to analyse the

quantitative data: the chi-square test, the 9ne-way anaysis'of

variance, and linear regression. The chi-square technique was

employed to compare the distribution of the parental levels ,of

'education and occupation àcross the three types of schools o

studied so as to establish thé ~ocio-economic background of the

students admitted into these schools. It was also used to

establish whether, the secondary school entry qualifications of

the students attending these institutions were significantly , 0

1 differert. This was 80ne by comparing the, frequency

distribution of the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE)

scores o~tained by the students attending the three types of schools. ,This helped ascertain the quality ~f students

. -admitted into these institutions on the basis of the national . ~rimary leav'lng examinat'Î-on--the-CPE. Similarly, the,

variability in the distribution of student achievement in the

Kenya Certificate of Education (KCE) science and mathematic~

scores across the three school types was determined through the.

use oi the same test. -

Lastly, the test was used to assessPhow fi r li

much t ime teachers 'spent in preparing and conduct ing laboratory

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science lessons. . .. "

The one-way analysis of variance (or one-way ANOVA) was

used to establish whether the students' mean scores in RCE

science and mathematics were significantly different for , ,

~tudents in provincial and Harambe~ schools and a1so between ... the two Harambee 'schools. Extra-provinc ia1 schools were

omitted from the first ANOVA analysis because they did not

offer physical scienc~. The teehnique was a1s~employed to

test if student mean CPE scores in the two Harambee schools "

were significantly different, This helped to establish the

40

_ quality of students admitted into these two institutions on the

basis of the CPE qualifications.

The third statistical kechniqu~ used in the data analyses

was linea~ regression. This tool was used to assess 1f the CPE 1

examination was a good predictor of student achievement in the

KCE science and mathematics examinations for students attending 1

all three school types. In this case CPE scores, which were . ,

treated as the independent variable, were re,gressed on sc:ores

in KCE science and mathemati~s (the depenaent measures). This

procedure was also employed in the"de~ermination of the 1

predictive value of parental.education qnq occupation on CPE ,

and KCE science and mathematics score~ for students attending

the three kinds of scho01s.

The" SPSSx (Stat i sot ical Package for Soc ial Sciences)

package was utilized in the above data analyses through McGill o

University's "MUSIC" (~Gill University System for Interactive "

Comput i~g) system,.

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2.5 Location and 'characteristics of schoolsl. studentsl. and ....

Qarents

A descr ipt ion of the location, and characteristics of the

sIx schools selected for the ma j or survey follows. 0 ....

: '

2.5.1 School l (extra-Qrovincial)

This is a ~oys' school located just off the ,Na~r'obi""'NakurJl.

road, 24 kilometres west of Nairobi, the capital ci~y oF Kenya.

The schoo1 was opened in 1926 through the initiative of the

'Alliance of protestaQt Mi ssions, namely, the Church Miss ionary

Soc.~ety,li the Atrica InJa}1d .Mission, th~ Ghurch of Scotland, and 1 • _

the United Methodist Mission '(Smith, 1973, p. 6)'. The founders

hoped that the school wduld "serve the educational needs of ,the

who1e district" (Smith, .1973, p. 17) by acting a~, a centr.a1

institution into which pupi1s from feeder schools wou1d aspire' .... 1 ... ,

to gain entry. ~

How~ver, from the' beginning, the school q

administration was determined to develop this school into a \ ~ ~ 1 l

~ ~

national institution (Smith, 1973, p. 98)--a goal which was

achieved in tJle,early 1960's.

The schoo~ is now a government maintained institution. , To

aug~ènt funds co1lected from parenti in form of sc~ool fees, it

receives grants from the cent~al government. In 1984, the

annual tui tion fees amount~d to 1,,350 Kenya shillings (Cdn $ .,

135). This was the standard tuition fee ~or aIl low-cost'

government maintained'extra~provincial and provincia+ 'schools

-in the. country. The school obtains extra revenue frQm the sale -'.

of eg9s , milk, chicken, and pork produèed in a 1.2 hectare farm

on the schoo1 compound. In the 1a'te 1960' s the school had a

l ,

1>

l ,

Q

.. '

, 0

..

.. ,

, 'f,

o 42

.very successful international' ,a,ppeal for f'unds, which ~Y 1969,

had resulted in a G~llection of 4 million Kènya shillin9s

,(Smith, 1973, p. 266). Thi~:mon~y·wa~ used for ~xpansion of

the school. ~he science~blQck mentioned oelôw was built with

part of this money.

The institution,' which occupies approximatély a 40.5 ',.'" hectare PieceGk lang, i s bui l't of permanent mater ial--stone

walls and tile or iron roofs. Telephone and duplicating ~ , , "

,facilities are available and the school has e1ectricity and

means of transport. There are"two libraries fone ~or junior . . .. and one for senior students) and a series of classrooms,. There

{l '

is also a science block which houses sep~r~fe a~d extremely

weIl stocked biology, chemistry, and physics Iaboratories. The

Iaboratories contain a ,wide variety of chemicals, àppatatus,

mo~els, charts, and other materials which facilitate studént

science activities. Each laboratory is managed by a tra~n~d technician.

Being an extra-provincial school, th~ inst~tution r~cr~its

its st'udents from the entire country but on a quota,ba$i~.

-According to information supplied by the headmasterj from 1980 ,

to 1984, it admitted students with 23 to 36 CPE points. \

However, about three, quarters of thèse' stude'n~s' hàd at least 30 5 .";

points. The school' s enrollmen,t. increased g~adually f rO:ffi 27

students in 1926, 115 in 194'0 '(when the" school enrolled , ~

candidates for the '0' level)~exa~iJla,tion for the fir~t time),

to 289 a t i ndependence (1963 )-. Form V st reams we re a.ddy!d' i ft

1961 and the first 'A' level candidates took the national

examinations in the following year. In 1984 the to~al student

, .

-

"

Br------~~----, . - ···_,..---·---r---- - ')i"<-... ,. , .•.

C .' 1 l'

l'

1-

\ ,

pop~1ation was '655 'wi th 1 three '0' 'and 'A" leve1 streams. ,

'~ This schoo! i s' know'p for i ts outs'tanding record in the

national examin~~ion's .sî'nc;e the early 1940' s. For ex~mple,

from 1946 to 19~5 (except in 1948) aIl students who ~rote the c:-

'O"~·leve!" examina.tion passed (Smith, 1973, p. 282). 1 1

Since then '

it has·remained as one of the leading institutions with most of

its candidates obtainlpg Division 1 passes._ According to the

" ,h~admaster, ,t~number of Div~sion 1 holders has increased t'rom

70% ot aIl the candidates to 80% since he ~ook over a~ head i~ ,

1980. Student performance in the 'A' leve1 examination has

a1so been outstanding; for exampl~, the school had the best 'A' . .

level results this year (Daily Na~ion, 1986, p. 1). ,

"The school usually'ran~s amo~9 the best three or 50

schools ftn both 'Q' and 'A' level examinations each year, and o

,of fers the follow i ng 17 subjects: Engl i sh laDguacje', 1 i tera ture

in Eng1.ish, fasihi ya Kiswanili (literature in Kiswahili),

iughi ya Kiswahili (Kis~ahili language),-Christian religious

education, history, geography, French, mathematics, physics, \

ch~mistry, biology, agriculture, art, music, power mechanics,

and electrical engineering_ In addition, the students engage , '

iri such out-of-c1ass act~vities as PFeparation for national­

science' congress competitions, drama and music festivals, 1. •

,sotcer,' swimming, deb~tirlg, -and,Chri~tian Union me~tings. The

'teaching ~taff' ls mainly "universi ty traihed. -In 1984 there o

w~re ~8 teachers giving a teacher-student ratio of 1:17. The , .

headmaster reported that he usually took the initia~iYe in

recruiting staff. He had served in a simllar capacity at ,

severa1 othe~:sec~ndary schools ~or/ about,ll years before ~eing

o

o~

, . i;., .

" ---- " • ' , '--,-::"- ~~-,-'1:t..,

44 (1

" 1

transferred to the' present school 'where he was in bis, fourth ,

year.

2.5. 2 sc~ool 2 (extra-provinè laÙ ,

This is a girls' school whi(s:l'~ was founded by the Loreto "

Sisters in the 1930'5. ft is located about 30 kilometres-from -Nairobi city.c~nt~e just off the Limuru-Nakuru road. The

instituti~~ began as ~ primary school which was later converted

into' a teacher training college. Th~s ~as also gradually ,

phqsed out and became a sec~ndary school in 1936. Accor~ing to

the hepdmistress, the aim 4 0f the school has always been to give

the, g'ir1s entrusted to them "an alI-round Christian education"

including 'in-class and out-of-èlass act i vi t,ies.

Like SchoQl 1 described above, it is now an

extra-provincial. school and therefore is government maintained. ,

However, parents subsrdise sorne boarding expenses to offset

inflation. Since the early 1970'5, the school has had several

successful fund-raising campaigns and meetings to raise money --------for new buildings.-- The most successful "Harambee" was held in

1984 wheh about 3'~i1lion Kenya shillings (Cdn $ 300,000) were $

collected. The school has stone buildings with tile roofs. rn

addition to the administration block and classrooms, there i5 a , ,

weIl equipped library and separate scienc~ laboratories for

"biology, chemistry, and physics. The laboratdries éü,"e weIl

stocked. Only Mercury (which 15 q~ite èxpensive) was in short

supply. Each laboratory is 5upervised by a trained technician.­

There' is electricity,' telephone, and means of transport 'at the

school. Dupl~cating facilities are also available. • l •

, ,

..

'h

, '

"

" •

45 '

Student enrollment has gradually incrèased since, the ,

1930 l s. Starting with 6 girls in 1936, the number rose tQ 190

by 1956, and to 450 in 1984. The arts strea~ of 'A' 1evel

students was introduced in 1970 ahd the science stream in 1981.-, , . Between 1980 and 19~4, it ha~ ~dmit~ed students with 1~ to'36

~PE points~ However, the majority of these students had 30 CPE

points or more. •

The performance of the students in 'Q' and 'A' level \ . ~xaminations is quite good. 'According to the headmistress, the / '

1/ " t

, ,sc,hoo1 usua11y ral)ks among the top four schoo1s in the" éountry

in both of these examinations. The 14 subjècts offer~d by the

school are English language, 1iterature in English,

fasihi ya Kiswahili (literature in KisW,nili),

lugha ~a ;iswah~li (Kiswahil~ l~ngU~ge), ~bristian religious ~ 1

education, history, geography, French, biology, chemis~~y, , .

physics,v mathematics, 0 art, and music. The school also excels

in out-of-class activities: for examp1e, in 1984, it ..

. represented the entire central province ip n~tional hockey,

drama, music, and stuoent science congress competitions winning

several awards.' In 1984, aIl 22 teachers in this school were

professiona11y trained, the majority being university

grèduates. The student-teacher ratio was 21:1.' The

.headmistress has been working at this school for 1Ô years.

2.5.3 School 3 <brovincial) ,

This school was founded by the,Chr~stiaq Churches of East

,Africa in 1956. It beg~n as Thogoto high school at Thogot?

village sev.eral kilometres from the site of School 1 described ~

; ,

o

1

o

11

"

above':" . -In 1958 the school movea-t6 i ts present si te at Thika

municipa1ity about 45 ki10metres north of Nairobi. The main • " 1

purpose of starting this school was to p~oduce students with" '"

certificates in agricult,u~'e" who would enter th~ Fa!=ulty of

Agriculture of. the University ofiEast Afri~a at Makerere in . \

Uganda, to be trained as ~griculture teach~rs. Kenya did not

,ha,ve its ,own university at that time.

46

The school is low-cost,' government maintained, and admits~-, . ~ ,

,boys only. There ar~ three weIl stqcked separate science

laboratories, one for chemiètry, physics, and biology.

However, items such as prepared siides,' measuring cylinders~

live biological specimens, 'and filmstrips were report:ed as

being.inadequately supplied during the 1984 school year. ".

,Althqugh these laborato~ies were not as weIl equipped as those

at t,he extr.a-provincial schoCtl-s described above, they ~e,re ,

nevertheless much better stocked than those at the Harâmbee

ïnsti tutions that were surveyed,. The school has departmenta1

libraries instead of one central library. ~owever,

. l' ' ,. constructlon of a lbrary block was begun ln 1984.

. ,

Students are recruited from the Central Province. At &he ,

start (1956), only 60 students were admitted. This number grew

gradually over the years resulting to' 670 students in .1984 •

'~9mpri~ing th~ee stre~ms from Form 1 te Form VI. Between,1980

and 1984,the school d~d not àdmit students with less than 25

~oints in CPE. The performance of students in national

examin~~i~ns' is generally good, bein'g quite close to tpat of

the students in extrà-provincial schools. For example, the ,

school wa~ among 'the top ten schools in K~nya i~ the 1985 tA"

." Il,

, .,

c

' .. "

n

level examina~ions '(Daily Nation, 1986, p. 1). The sthool \

offers 13 subjec~s including wood technology, and metal work

tec'hnolQgy,; About half of the teachers ,a,re. uni versi ty ,

graduates. There has no.t been a serious staff' shortagé since l'

1983 when there was no physics teacher for one terme The , '

headmas~er, who had served at this school since 1982, was ~

trénsferred-du~ing the course of this study •

. 2.5.4 School 4 (provincial) . 1

Like schoÇ>1 3', ·this i~ a 10w-coS't, government maintail(led " , ,

47

provincial school situated off Lower Kaoête road 18 kilometres

from Nairobi. It wa~ fou~ded as a girls primary.school in 1926

by a protestant Canon. The primary school was gradually

transformed into a ~econdary school by 1962'. Only Forms land

II were taught,here until 1964 when Forms III and IV were

added. Ip 1971 an 'A' level arts stream was ilntroduceÇl and an

'A' level science stream was added six years latex. Currently,

the school has two classes each from Form l to Form VI with a

total student enrollment of 436.

The buildings ,in this ,School are aIl permanent structures.

The school has duplicating and telephone facilities,

electrisity, and means of transport. There is a biology . . '1 ,

laboratory, a separate physical sclence laboratory, and a

li~rary. The.laboratories and t~e libréry were not as weIl

equipped aé tho~e ~n the schools described above. Among the ~ J

items that were, reported in ,s~ort supply inc'lud~d several kinds

of chemioals, centrifuges, ·measuring cylinders,' and prepared

slides.

o

o

o , '

" -_. __ ._--_ ... _-~

, · , f According to information made availab1e b~ the

headmistress, the following f9bj~ts arè compulsory for both

Form 1 and Form-II students:\English language, 'literature in

, '" ,,' ;~n9,li~h, mathematics, bioiogy, ChI1'ist~~J1 religiou~ education,

geography, history, physica:t scie'oçè, Kiswahili, h~me sai.ence

(clothing and textiles, and home management), and physical . .

48

educat)on. Each candidate at the school i5 required to sit fjQr

at least eight' of the 12 subjecfs.

The school has degree and dip10ma teachers on ,i ts sta f f.

Its headmistress had served for five years. Before her

appointment in 1980, there had been 10 headmistresses in 12

years.

2.5.5 School 5 (Harambee)

Thïs is a co-educationa1 institution situated about 21 , ,

,,\, kilom~tres from Nairobi and less than ten kilometres from

Kiambu town. It ,was started as a primary school in the 1930's

by Catholic missionaries. A Form 1 Harambee class was started

by parents in 1965 which by 1970 became a full and separate , ' .

Harambee school. It now has three streams from Form 1 to Form

" IV.

: School fees are higher than tho5e of 'the extra-provincial

and ptov,incial 'schools studied. A 'major reason for 'the higher

Ïees i~ 'the fact, that this is a relatively new school· which,

like other Harambee schools, does not rece,ive gO,vernment grants

to help meet the day-tb-~ay operational costs. It therefore

has to Faise money through student tees which are a prefer~ed

method of ~btaining the needed finance than through public

, .

l '

{.

~ ..

, ,

o.

49

fund-~aising campaigns. Form l students pay 1,20,0 Kenya

stiiJ.lings (Cdn $ 120) per year as tui~ion fees, whi1e the~ fees '

for Form II and III students are-300 (shilli~gs (Cdn $ 30) more. j

Form IV students pay even more bec~use of examination fees. In

ad~it4on, each family 'contributes' to a four-year building ( J

fund of 400 Kenya shillings (Cdn $ 40). Occasionally

"Harambee" meetings are organized to collect more money to,

support and expand the school's facilities. In- 1985, a new

science block was being built with Harambee fun~s.

')

The buildings are made of stone and roofed with corrugated

iron sheets. There is o~ly one laboratory for aIl three

science subjects, i.e., chêmistry, bidlogy, and physics~ The . Q

Ihboratory contains little apparatus~ few chemicals'rand other - , ~ À

materials for science investigations. Many kinds of equipment

and other teaching aids were èither constantly in short supply

,~ or were not available at aIl. Examples of materials that were t f, not available included combustion tubes, 'crucibles (fot soi1'

ah~ other experiments), prisms (~or light experiments),

o~cilloscopes (for experiments. inv.olving wave-'.length .... ...

measurements), animal cages, and watch glasses (for

crystallization"'and root tip activities). In addition, a large

assortment of chemica1s, bunsen burners, torch cells, test

,tubes, and centrifuges 'were reported to be in consta'nt shortage 1

throughout the schoo1 year. There w~re three microscopes for

use by 120 students. A small 1 ibrary wi th less than two

hundred b90kS ,is avai1able. There are dupli~ating and ' -

telephone faci1ities at the school but the headmaster's van is

the only means of "sc;:hool transport ".'

r v

o

o

Students are recruited from the neighbouring feeder

prim~ry schools and are often admitted with very low CPE

scores. For example, from 1980 to 1984 students with scores

from 13 to 26 CPE points were enrolled~ Most of the s~udents

in this scheel, as is the case i~ majerity ef Harambee ..

schools~ were two to three years older than those admitted to

either the extra-provincial or the piovlncial schools due to . -repea~ing the CPE examination in the hope of attaining higher

scores to qualify for government maintained schools. Sqhool

enrollment for 1984 was 430; of these, 223 were boys and the

rest (207) girls ...

'According to the headmaster, student performance in the

KCE'examinations is "average" compared-to other Harambee

schoo1s in the district meaning that the majority of students

usually fail to obtain crèdits or distinctions .. In 1984, the .

school registered its students for KCE in the following 9

subjects: English language, 1iterature in Eng1ish, Christian

réligious educatio~, history, geogr~Phy, lugha ;a Kiswa~ili

50

'(Kiswahili langu~ge), mathematics, physical science, and

biology. In the same yea r, there were 15 teachers, 6 t ra i ned, .

and 9 untrained. The fo11owing year, this changed to 7 and 5 '" respectively, making a student-teacher ratio of 29:1. None of

the trained teachers were unive"rsity graduat~s. The trained

teachers were supplied by the government; for this reason,' this

)insti tution' is one of those commonly referred to as "~aram~ee

,Assisted" secondary schools. The present headmaster has been •

in charge of the ~chool since 1982. P~evious1y he had been

headmaster of another Harambee Assisted secondary school in the

'.

\, " "

. , ,

'51-, -i

same district for several years.

, 2.5.6 School 6 (Harambee) \. \ .....

This is also a Harambee Assisted secondary school. It-was

developed from a ,nearby primary school into a full secondary

, ,school by 1967. The school is presently located about 35 . .., ,

kilom~tres from Nairobi, just off~ the Nairobi-Nakuru road. ,

About 80% of the students are from the Limuru Division of /'

Kiambu di str ict. Li ke School 5, the st udents a;-r,e r~c rui ted' "

with relatively low CPE grades. For example, between 1~80 and

1984, ~tudents 'with 17 to 29'CPE points were admitted. Forms 1

and 11 consist of two classes each while Forms III and IV have

ihree streams each. The tot~l ~tudent populat~on in 1984 was

396 (309 boys and 87 girls). There ~ere no 'A' level classes.

The staff was composed of 6 ,trained and 9 untrained teachers

yielding a student-teacher ratio of 26:1. Only one of the

trained teachers was a university graduate. The headmaste~

took over as head in 1980. prev!ously he had been headmaster " at another Harambee Assisted secondary school for 8 years; and

a teacher for 3 years at one of the leading extra-provincial

scbools in the country. ~ ~

The 1984~KCE results were the beSt since the school's

establishment; in that year, about 72% of the candidates !

1 .'

passed. 1 n the same year, 'the school regi stered students' for . . \ the KCE examinations'in the forlowi~g Il subjects: English

language, fasihi ya Kiswahili (litèrature in Kiswahili),

Christian religious education', history, geography, commerce,

lugha ya Kiswahili (Kiswahili language)"mathematics, physical

"

·0 '

! "

52

seience, biology, and art.

The school-' s principal source. of revenue is thro,ugh

,student fees and public fund-raising meetings. AlI the

buildings a~e permanent, being made of stone and iron roofs. ' l There is only one laboratory for aIl three science subjects.

This laboratory, which is supervised' by a techni~ian, lacks

. many essential, sciei1ce' teaching materials such as \micr.oscopes, "

lenses (for tight experiments), ammeters and voltme~ers (for

~xperiments on e1ectricity)~ thermometers, and density bott1e~.

In addition, a variety of basic supplies such as bunsen

burners, test-tubes, a large assortment of chemicals, and ,

/centrifuges are in constant shortage~ ~ schoo1 1ib~ary-was

under construction in 1984. This institutio~does not have ,

electricity, school transport, or telephone facilities.

2.6 'Enrollment and social background of studènts in ,

extra-provincial, provincial, and Harambee schoo1s 6

Data re1ated to student enrollment and class sizes ln , ,

science and mathematics at the six'schools are presented in " Table l on the next page. In a~ition.to the enrollments, the

number of Form IV classes and average cl.ass siz,es in science ..

and mathematics a~e shown.

~~-.- , . "

~ , .

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.... \ ~

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53

, ,

Table I .. STUDENT ENROLLMENT, NUMBER OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS CLASSES, AND AVERAGE CLASS ~IZE'BY SCHOOL

TYPE OF SCHOOL

Extra-p~ovi~cial Provincial Harambee

School No. l 2 3 4 5 6 •

Total \ \

4j6 Enrollment 655 450 670 430 • 396 , ~

Number of Form IV Class~s:

Maths 3 2 3 ,2 3 3 Science 3 . '2 3 ,1 2 3

Average Form IV class size:

Maths, 38 40 40 40 ;34 36 Science 38 30 40 40 36 39

... The data indicate that class sizes for Form IV students in both

mathematics and science subjects are slightlY,smaller in .

Harambee schools than in either extra-provincial or 'provincial

schools. AIso, the total ~nrollment in Harambee schools is ~ ,

generally Smaller than that of the other two types of schools. \ , Schools 2 and 4 were girls' schools while schools land 3,were

'. '0 boys' schoo.ls; and schools 5 and 6 were co-"educational. In

school 5, 223 of the total student enrollment were boys and 207

were girls, while in school 6, the majority were boys (309)

. vith only 87 girls. \

The data in Table lIon the next page show the actual

'1

f .. '. . l'

't

"

. '

Q

55

The figures in the above table show that more boys registered

for the 1984 KCE science and mathefuatics subjects than girls.

The data further indicate that boys formed a greater proportion

(60%) of the entire student sample than girls (40%) and tha~

aIl students in each school took mathematics and biology~' The

proportion of boys taking chemistry and physics in the KCE

examination was much higher than that of girlSAa~ing these , '

subjects. However, the percentage of girls taking physical

science ,(52) °w~s slightly higher tha:n that of boys (48) who

took the same examination.

Girls seem to pre fer biology to anytother science subject.

For example in the 1984 KCE examinations, 72 in the"

extra-provincial school sample wrotê-the biology examination asr-."

compared to 61 who tOQk chemistry and only 24 who sat for

physics. In the provinci~l school sample 75 girls took the

biology examination, and 39 wrote physical science. Fewer

girls sat for biology and physical science in the Harambee .

, school sample (44 in biology, and Il inrphysical science). Of

the 56,986 ~CE biology candidates in the ~ntire country (see

Appendix F), ~bout 37% were girls. The proportions of girls

"

-'

taking other science, subjects were lower than that for biology; •

°for example, they formed about 27% of th~ candidates in

chemistry and physical science, and about 20% of those in , ,

physics, although they accounted for 40% of the sample

popula t ion ..

.. Information on the socio-economic status of the students'

parents was also obtairled. o

Both the type of occupation and the

:

, , 1

1 ,} Il

0

"" " 56

" ,

O~ . " ,

level of formaI eQucation attained by the ,parent s const i tuted

the measures of socio-economic status. The data o,n parental

education and occupation' are summarized in' Tables' III and;Iv on

pages 57 and 60 respectively.

'b, ., j

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".~\ ~ fj' . • .~ oC .1 . '" t , .

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1 • .' ". , -, , .;

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1 , D

? i' ,- , -; .....

'J ;. " ". , ' (( ,

" " .. " '" 1 J ' , '- " ~.

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t

... . ," .' "- ~ 0'

p '" , " , . .f

.'

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:. . , "0\ l'!,::{ ~

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" ." " ,

~~,. : . , .' '-, ~ , ,

"

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57

Table III \ f

EDUCATION OF PARENTS OF SECONDARY' SCHOOL STUDENTS BY TYPE OF SCHOOL

Fathers' education Mothers' educationG

<.

Ext ra-prov i nc ial (N-=158)

. Level of education: Form f our and higher Form two CPE Below CPE No schooling

Total

Provincial ~N=177) Level of education:

Ferm. four and higher ForIl\ two CPE Below CPE No schooling

Total

Harambee (N-143 ) Level of education:

Ferm f our and higher Ferm two CPE Below CPE No schoeling

Total

%

57.2 7.7 9.9-

11.0 14.3

100.0

36.8 11-.1 12.8 27.4 12.0

, .

100. a .

22.8 20.9 11~8 35.5 9.1

100,0

%

36.3 '7.7

14.3 ._ ---16.5

25.3 100.0

17.1· Il.1 '22.2 27.4 22.2

100.0

, 7.3 1.2,1 13~b 38.2 28.2

100~0

\ '

X2~~4.4,df=12,p<.OOl X2m44.7,df=12,p<.OOl ,.

The çhi>-square (X a,) values, which' are highly significant

(p<O.OOl), indicate that parental 'levels ef education were '

statistically differ~nt for student~ attending the

~ extra-provincial, provincial, and Harambee secondary schools

'~

O·

o

," -- .. ,'

-~-

58

·studied. The level of parental educat,ion ranged from no .

schooling to those with university educ.ation. In general, the

parents of students in extra-provincial schools were mote

highly educated t'han those of students enrolled in provinc ial

and Harambee scho01s, and generally fathers were bet ter

\ educated than mothers. •

~ore than half (57%) of the fathers of s~udents enrolled

- in ~extra-provincial schools had attained at reast ~ Form IV o

standard> of educat ion. The percen tage of fa thers 0 f the

students in the other two types of schools who had gained sllch

a level of education was much lower (about 37 and 23 for

prov:incial a!ld Harambee schools respectively). The mothers'

Form IV or higher 1evel of educat ion ac ross the three types of'

schools present sas imi lar trend w i th percentages 36, 17, and

7, respectively. In çontrast to secondary or higher educatior,

the percentage of mothers who had not received any formal 't:>

schooling was s imilar for a Il three types of school s. ~Ç>wever,

the percentage of f,athers w i thout any k i nd of formaI school ing

was highest (14) at the extra-provincial schoo1s and lowest (9)

at the Harambee schools.

Parents of the students surveyed were engaged in, various

kinds of occupations. Occupations listed in the student , .

questionnaire responses were grouped into four cate90ri~s:

professional/managerial" ski lIed, commercial/self-employed,. and

unskilled jobs. Examples of professional/managerial

Occupi. .. ions included university lecturex:s and professors,

medicàl doctors, and company managers. Skilled jobs referred

"\..

Ct

, "

.' "4 \

r

. ,

• l

r

59

to·those'Qone by mechanics, cashiers, bursars, and engineers.

Grocery sellers and shopkeepers were classi f ied, as

self-employed. Finally, jobs like those of of-fice messengers,

farmers, and cooks were considereÇl unskilied 'occupations. <"

Table IV on the following page summarizes the occupations of '. '

the students' parents.

, ;

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1'. /<>-;r,[\ .---;-

'.

Tpble IV'

PARENTAL OCCUPATIONS_ OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS BY TYPE OF SCHOOL

Fathers' occupation

Extra-provincial: (N=158) .

Type 'of occupation Professional/Managerial Skilled Commercial/Self-employed Unskilled Total

.. provincial: (N=l77)

Type of occupation Professional/Managerial Ski lIed , Commercial/Self-employed Unskilled ~ Total

" Harambee: (N=143)

Type of "occupation . Professional/Managerial

Ski iled ,Commercial/Self-employed Unskilled

T,ota!

%

8.8 40.7

7.7 4'2.9

100.0

6.0 27.,4

4.3 62.4

100.0

3.6 24.5

9.1 62.7

100.0

X2c13.4,df c 6,p<.Ô5

Mothers' occupation

, ,

\.

~

6.6 24.2 2.2

67.0 '100.0

3.4 12.8 4.3

79.5 100 • .()

-2.7 3.6 4. S-

89.1 100 • .0

....

Xac 22.2,df=6,p<.01

As in the case of parental education, the parental occupations

were significantly different acros~ the three types of schools

(p < 0.05 for, fathers, and p < 0.01 for mothers). About 50% of

t~e fathers of students enrolled in extra-provincial schools

either occupied managerial and professional po~itions or were

l ,

,.,' '-J-

--

. 0 ' " . '.

" , -

employed as skilled labourers. This was higher than the ,

percentage of fathers of studen~s in provincial and Hatambee,'

schools with similar jobs (33 and 28 respect,ively).'

propor~on oi mothers in m~~agerial/professional and "

The

skilled

61

occupations was lower ,than that of the fathers across aIl types

of schools espec ially for students in Harambee s,chools., In the

case of extra-provrncial schools, the ratio of fathers to

mothers with managerial/professional and skilled jobs was about \'

8:5, as compared to 2:1 in the case of the provincial schools,

and 5:1 for the Harambee schools.

About 40% of the fathers whose children attended

extra-provincial schools were' unskilled. This percentage is

nevertheless smaller (by sorne 20%) than that for fathers of

stùderts in either the provincial or the Harambee schools.

Most of the mothers of the students attending the three types

of schools were unskilled workers. Although the proportion of , , ÎI

unskilled in extra-provincial schools was the lowest, it was

also Quite high (67%).

2.7 Summary k .

Data were collected from student~, teachers, and

administrators in six ~econdary schools, two extra-provincial,

two provincial, and two Harambee schools. AlI s~udënts in

these schools enrolled in mathematics and biology in Form IV.

Physical science was offer~9 in one of the provincial schools

and in both of the H~rambee schools. The other provincial

school as weIl as the two extra-provincial schools 0éfered •

separaté physics and chemistr~ courses.

o

-~: __ .""J

-:;::: "'-.,."1 •• --- ~ ... ~~

62

There were diffetences among the variou& kinds of schools

with respect to age of the school, the number of subjects ,

offered, student-teacher, ratio, equipment, number of

laboratories, quality of students and teaching staff recruited,

and the ~dmini~trative experience of school heads. The

r extra-provincial and provincial schools were started in the

'1920' s, 1930' s, or 1950: s, while the Harambee schools w/ere

started a fter ' independence ' (1963). In genera l, the

extra-provincial and provincial schools offered more subje~ts

than the Harambee schools. Thé extra-provinc ial and pr"ov i nc ial

schools had more qualified.teachers and better equipped science

laboratories and libraries than Harambee schools. Eurther, <

while each of the extra-provincial and one of the provincial

schools had separate laboratories for each science subject,

each 'of the Harambee institutions had only one laboratory for

aIl three science subjects. ~he other provincial school had .., . .

two laboratories, one for biology and one for both phyS1CS and

chemistry. One of the Hatambee schools did not have a library.

The variation in the.quality and quantity of . teaching-learning ~acilities suggest that students in Harambee

o

schools receive a poorer education than those in the other two

types of SChOOlS., This, coupled with the fact that Haramb~

sch~ols recruited students with considerab~y lower secondary

school entry qualifications, has important implicatiQn~ for

their performanc~ in the 1984 KCE examinations.

The educational and'occupational levels of the students'

parents were' compared: the eQucational le'vel and occupational

status of parents of students in extra-provincial schools vas

r _

"

~" .' "

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J '1

~,

higher thàn for those of students i~ the other two kinds of

schoo1s. The next chapter examines the influence of parental . '

education and occupational levels on student achievement in

primary and seconda~y,school examinations.

, !

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63

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CHAPTER THREE

EFFECTS OF PARENTAL EDUCATION AND OCCUPATION ON STUDENT

ACHIEVEMENT /

~ 1

Before the introduction of the 8-4-4 system of education

in 1984, students sat for a national examination known as the

64

Kenya Certificate of Education (KCE). T-his examination is

being replaced by the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education

(KCSE). Students in this study took the Certificate of Primary

'Education (CPE) examination in 1980, and wrote the KCE

examination in 1984. / ,

Ip this chapter, the influence of parental education and

occupation on both the CPE and the KCE examination results is

examined by means of regres~ion analyses. In t;ese analyses,

CPE and KCE scores are treated as the dependent variables while

parental education and occupation are the independent

variables. "­r

3.~ A~hievement in the Certificate of Primary Education

Examina t io'n. \

CPE grades for the students studied were obtained from

official records'of the six schools which participated in the

second phase -of the s'urvey. The da ta in Table V on the

followBng,page show the di~tribution of the total CPE points 1

for students attending extra-provincial, provincial, and ,

Harambee seco~ary schools selected for the study'. "

.'

-------

.'

-. ç

l"

~;

~O' l~l ~ ~~ ~ ~-

!:" ...

. .. ......... -:..-:'- .

CPE points

30-36

25-29

20-24

< 20

Total

.. ~ ....... ~ . 1

\

65

1

, \ Table V

DISTRIBUTION OF CPE SCORES ACROSS TYPES OF SCHOOLS \ .

SCHOOL TYPE

Extra-provincial provincial Harambee

(N=158 )

%

c 99.4

0.6

0.0

0.0

100.0

(N=177)

%

95.8

4.2

0.0

0.0

100.0/

(N=143)

%

0.0

16.0,

53.8

30.3

100.0

AlI types

(N=478)

%

71.3"

b .1

14.4

8.1

100.0

------------------------------------------- / ,

" x2 = 416.1, df=6, P < 0.001

The high1y significant chi-square value ind~tes that student

achievement in the CPE examination across the three types of

schools was different (p<O.OOl). Students in the 30-36 ~PE u

point catego~y formed the majority (71.3%) of the student

·,samp1e. This, large proportion of students was represented only , \

in the extra-proy~ncia1 and provinçia1 schoo1s. As the figures \ ~.

1'"

J' 1

o

o

in the table indicate, extra-prov,incial schools recruited the

best students. AJ.most aIl, (99.4%) of the students in the

o

66

extra-provincial schools obtained 30 points or more in the CPE

examinatibn. Students attending provfnc,ial schools also

obtained high CPE marks: more than ninety-five percent {95.8%)

of them were in the 30-36 point category. This is not

, unexpected since the n~mber of extra-provincial sch061s in thé

country ,(about two dOzen) cannot 'accommodàte all students with

more than thirty points. " The Harambee schools on the other hand recruited students

with poorer CPE scores. This 'was due to the \act that the ;,

extra-provincial and provincial schools recruited the best

students first, leaving Harambee schools to select students who

scored poorly in the CPE exâmination. About 84% of the

students in these schools obtained less than twenty-five points

in the CPE.

There,was general consensus among the school heads and

teachers interviewed that secondary school entry qualifications

are important determinants of student achievement. School

heads and teachers from provincial and Harambee insitutions

regarded students enrolled at extra-provincial schools as the

"cream" of the CPE graduates, while students admitted into

Harambee schools are woat one school head referred to as

"rejects". Information provided by the Harambee school

headmasters and SOme qf their teachers, indicated that,parents

giJe unequal attention to their dhildren enrolled in va~ious ~

kinds of schools; for example, they will pay school fees-and

buy textbooks for those in government schools before giving

...",~ ... _-... ···-i o •• - .....

'\

i.

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..

. ' , 67

financial assistance to siblings admitted to Harambee schools. f

3.2 Prediction of achievement in' CPE frdm pa~ental

education and Qccupation

To determine the contribution of parental education and

occupation to CPE achi~vement, regression analyses were done

i with CPE scores as'the depe~dent variable and parent~l (.. ,

education and occupation as the,independent variables. These

two independent variables were separately regressed on CPE

scores. Total CPE scores were used instead of separate scores

foor 'science and mathematics because the scores for science were

'~ere combined with those of geography, history, and civics to 1

form a composite score for the CPE's general paper. A~so, the

selection of students for secondary education was based on the

tO,tal 'number of points obtained in th-/e ~PE examination rather

than ho~well a student did in separate CPE papers.

The data shown in Table VIon page 68 present the findings

\ of the regression analyses involving achievement in CPE and

parental education and occupation. The"R squared" isa

measure of the amount of variation in student achievement in

the CPE examination that was due to parental education and ,

occupation. The "F" value indicates the appropriateness of the {

statistical model usee in predicting student achievement in CPE

from the parental level of education and occupati9n. The

extent of th~ significance of 'the prediction 1s given by,the

co"ventional probability ("p") values. "

__ 1

\,

1l , 1. 5ij f r #- .~

l '

68

o - ~able VI

RELATIONSHIP BETwEEN 'STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN CPE AND PARENTAL EDUCATION AND OCCUPATION BY TYPE OF SCHOOL G

SCHOOL TYPE ,

Extra-provincial Provinçial Harambee Àll types

(N=158) (N-177)

Fathers' education ~

1 'f . , R squared 0.032 0.000 '0.004 0.064

F \' 4.35* 1)

.0.09 0.56 26'.32*** • • f

Mothers' education

R squared . 0.028 O.OGl 0.022 0:061

F 3.86 . Ô .1-6 , 2.52 25. 91**~

'0 Fathers' occupat~on

R square'd - 0.011' . 0.011 0.027 0.026

F 1.24 1~45 2.8 9.17* •

Mothers' ooccupation 1

R squared 0.'008 0.001 0.,004 0.Q39 ,g

F 1. 01 0 0.018 . 0.46 16.37***

.;;

" * p < 0.05 {

: .. ~ ... \ " «J,

*** P < 0.001 ' ,

" :.

<» 0 ..

At

0 The data in. this table indicate that .hen all three types of fi

schools"were treated "as a unit~ parental education was found .. to .. . ~ ,--.;-

'. li \ .: ri> L"~ J . '. v,,, ..... '"

..,...., '''!!',,..-----'''l':.7''''. ~, """~~'""7'.,.........---;--:r ,,-~~-~.-. I"i::- .. ~." ... -

'" - .~ ~ ... ~~.

, .

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69

be a significant predictor of achievement in the CPE • cc

examination (p<O.OOl) Fathers' and mothers' occupational stenos .. . " ,

were al~o found to be gooà predictor,s of, s-uccess in the CPE

examination across the ~hr.e types of institutions (p< 0.~5 for

fathers and p<O.OOl for mothers). However, when the various

·schoo-l ·samples were conside~ed separately, parental education

an.d occupation were not found to be good predictors of

performance in the CPE examinat,ion (p>O. 05). Th~<-~ry , -)

eX,ception was tha,t af the e~tra-prov(nc ial scQdOls, fathers 'e:.­-~-=~--//

level of educa t i;on was str~~gl(' related t~ s1:udent achievement

in th~ CPE exa~ination. A pos~ible expl~~ation is the f~cE .. Q ;fi r !

tha t at each type of pchool,', t,he proport ion bf parents wi th

~h educatlonal qualifications and occupational status was •

very' small (see Table IV). Again, the exception is fathers of ,

students' at extra-~rovfncial sc~ools . .. .. , , In the previous chapter jt was noted that fathers of these

~. ,

st~dents were more hlghly eJucated than those of students in

provincial and HaFambee schoôls". Over hi:tlf (57%) of the

fathers of ruden~~ in extr,a-provinc,i'~l schools had a minimum

of Form IV level of/eAucation '~'s comparecii to 37% and 17% of L-) , fathers 6f students in ~r6vincial and Harambee schools •

• 'Although fathers' occupational status was not found to be a

/, '

significant ~ontributor to student achievement in CPE iq any of

the t~ree kinds of schools, the correlation between fathers'

education ,and.~4therst occupation "was found to be quite high \ ,

p

,( r-O~ 1; see Appendix" J). The combinat ion of fathers' education '1

1

,and oecu~tion may'therefore be crucial in contributing to high .

levels of performance in the CPE ~xamination, high enough to

; ,

"

o

o

o

/'

, enable students to qualify for places in extra-provincial

schools. WeIl educated fathers with salaried employment are

better able to purchase texts for tneir children, pay for

tutorials, and otherwise assist their children to do weIl in

the school l~aving examination.

The above analyses demonstrate that a trend similar to -,

70

that obser~ed ·irt industrialized nations seems to be emerging in - \

Kenya: parental education and occupation are becoming

, significant predictors of academic achievement at least at the

primary school level. This is contrary té the view that

socio-economic status plays an insignifitant role in explaining ,

student achievement in developing countries (e.g. Heyneman et

al., 1981, pp. 227-246).

3.3 Achievement in the Kenya Certificate of Education

examina t ion.

The, students involved in the studv sat for the Kenya o -

Certificate of Education (KCE) towards the end of 1984. The

study concerned itself with achievement in mathematics,

chemistry, biology, physics, and physical science.

There were two papers in mathematics, one compulsory and

the other a cholce of five out of seven questions. Chemistry

consisted of three papers, two theory and one practicai

consisting of three compulsory questions.

Like chemistry, the biology, physics, and physical science

examinations were composed of two theory and two practical

papers. The latter subject, being a combination of physics and

chemistry, had one theory and one practical paper for each 1 \

"

-. ~)

l "

"" ~"~ - "., " -; "-~ ... ""i"

71

area.

The KCE results for the candidates were obtained from the

Kenya National Examination's Council. The information in Table

VII on the next page summarizes student achievement in

mathematics, biology, and physical scie~ce in the three types

of schools.

/ o

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Table V1I-

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN KCE MATHEMATICS, BIOLOGY, AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE "BY TYPE OF SCHOPL (1984)

Extra-provincial provincial Harambee All types

KCE MATHEMATICS: Distinction Crredit Pass Fai1

Total

KCE BIOLOGY: Distinction Credit Pass Fail,

Total

KCE PHYSICAL SCIENCE: Distinction Credit Pass Fai1

Total

(N=158) (N e 177) (Na:143) (N-478)

% % % %

33.5 44.9 17.7

3.8 100.0

18.1 42.9 23.7 15.3

100.0

0.0 5.6

18.9 75.5

100.0

17.8 32.4 20.3 29.5

100.0

X2 = 244.9, df = 6, P <0.001

22.2 60.1 15.2

2.5 , 100.0

4.0 49.3 40.0

6.7 100.0

0.0 16.1 21.7 62.2

100.0

10.1 41.2 22.6 26.1

100.0

X2 = 206.8, df = 6, P <0.001

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 59.0 38.5 2.6

100.0

0.0 6.9

36.2 56.9

100.0 .

0.0 27.8 37.1 35.;1.

100.0"

x~ = 42.4, df = 2, P <0.001

Note: In physical science, N=39 and 58 for provincial and Harambee schools respectively (see Table lIon page 54).

The distribution of the scores for each subject across the

three types of schools is significantly different. This i8

...

J J

72

.. ;':0, -, ...

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, '.

.73

indicated by thè corresponding chi-square (X 2 ) values which are

highly significant (p<O.OOl) for al~ three subjects suggesting

achievement in these subjects varied grea~ly for students

attending the three-types of schooois. On the whole, the

proportion of KCE candidates who obtainèd credits or higher in

mathematics (50.2%) and biology (51.3%) was higher than for

, physicàl science (27.8%). However, the percentage of failures

in aIl three subjects was similar.

Students in extra-provincial schools performed

·significantly better than those in provincial and Harambee

schools in both mathematics and biology (p<O.OOl). Students i!

Harambee schools did the poorest in aIl subjects. None of the

students in the Harambee school sample obtained a distinction

in any of the subjects examined. The majority of the students

attending extra-provincial and provincial schools either

obtained credits or distinctions. ln mathematics, for example,

about 78% of the students in the extra-provincial schools and

61% of the provincial school students' obtained credits or

distinctions while less than 6% of the students in Harambee

schools obtained credits only. For bi010gy, 82.3% of the

students in extra-provincial schools obtained credits or

distinctions while 53.3% of the students in provincial schools

obtained a similar level of performance. A much smaller

percentage (16) of students in Harambee schools obtained

credits ih this subject.

Most of the candidates in the Harambee school sample ,

(75.5%) failed mathematics, while 62.2% failed biology arid a

slightly smaller proportion (56.9%) failed physical science.

o

,

o

o

The failure rate for mathematics in Harambee schools was

approximately 5 times' greater than in provincial schools and

)

about 20 times greater than"that of stude~ts in

extra-provincial schools. The relatively poor student

achievement in math~matic$ reflecied ~he students' opinion ?n

74

this subject especially in provincial and Harambee schools

where half of the stùdents interviewed regarded this subject as

being the hardest one in which tney were examined. These ,

students, especially those from Harambee schools, also showèd a 0

lack of interest in mathematics, (see Appendix H). Their poor

achievement in this subject als6 reflected the national studen~

performance in this subject. According to KNEC data on student

performance in thé 1984 KCE examinaticn (see Appendix F), of

the four subjects, mathematics had the lowest national mean

mark (32.05). Physics had the highest national mean mark

(79.00), followed very closely by chemistry (77.50), physical

scie"nce (76.17), and' biology (53.82). \

Approximately 62% of the candidates in the

extra-provincial schools obtained Division 1 as compared to

only 19% of the candidates in provincial schools. None of the

Harambee school students in the study sample obtained a firs't 1

division ranking. \ \

Further, the majority of extra-provincial

and provirycial students " \ -

Division JII or bet~er,

(98:5% and 91.6% respective1y) obtained

while only 22.7% of students in

Harambee schools achieved a similar l~el of performance. The

proportion of failures was much hig~er in the Harambee school

sample (37.7%) than that for students in the provindial schools

-in which only 2% failed (see Appendix G).

c

\ { :'0 -?-','

" H

..

------_. __ ... __ . __ ....

75

3.4 Prediction of achievement in KCE from CPE

ln order to assess the correlation of studertt performance

fn the CPE with achievement in the KCE examinations linear

regression analyses were carried ~ut. CPE scores were treated

as the independent measure while KCE scores were the dependent

variable~ Mathematics scores were used as dependent measures 1 1

• because this was the only subject, out of those chosen for

purposes'of this study, that was taken in the KCE examinations

by students from aIl six schools. The information in Table

VIII bel.ow -conta ins a summary of the regre,ss ion analyses. c

Table VIII

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN' RCE MATHEMATICS AND CPE SCORES BY T~PE OF SCHOOL

SCHOOL TYPE

Extra-provincial provincial Harambee AlI types

(N=158 ) (N=177) (N=143) (N=478)

R squared 0.232 0.220 0.098 0.449

F 46.49*** 47.00*** 12.74*** 358.67***

*** p < 0.001

The overall correlation between CPE and KCE mathematics for the

entire study sa~ple was 0.67 (see Appendix J) with a variance

(explained by regression) of 0.449, indicating that as a whole,

o

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76

the results obtained in the CPE examination were a strong . , predictor of student success in the KCE màthematics examinatio~

(p ~0.001). The hi9h and positive correlation between

mathematiés and biology (r=0.74) and between mathematics and

physical science (r=0.64) suggest that CPE was likely to be a ~

significant predictor of "student achievement in these subjects

as weIl (see Appendix J).

While the variation in KCE mathematics achievement

explained by CPE in both extra-provincial and provincial school

samples was ~imilar (23.2% and 22% respectively), the variation

in KCE ma~hematics achievement accounted for by CPE scores of

studeonts in Harambee schools was much lower (9.8%). This means

that either there was less difference among children who scored

at the low end of the CPE range, or that qualitative

differences in Harambee schools such as teaching-learning

facilities, school administration, and student involvement in

learning were crucially important to achievement in the KCE

examinations, or both. However, the positive correlation

between CPE and KCE scores for students attending aIl three

kinds of schools, as shown under Appendix J, (r=0.48, r=0.47,

and r=0.31 for extra-provincial, provincial, and Harambee ...

schools respect1vely), indicates that students with high CPE

scores tended to get high KCE grades in mathematics.

\

3.5 Prediction of achievement in KCE from parental education

and occupation

The predictive value of parental education and occvpation

on success in KCE examinations was determined by regression

\

(;

(

, . .,

. 77

analyses. Achievement in KCE mathematics was treated as the

dependent variable, while parental education and occupational

8ta~us served as independ~nt m~asures. The results of these

analyses are summarized in Table IX on the next page • ~

....

-.

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Table IX o

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN KCE MATHEMATICS AND PARENTAL EDUCATION ,AND OCCUPATION B~ TYPE OF SCHOOL

SCHOOL TYPE

Extra-provinci~l Provincial Harambee AlI types

(N=158) (N=177) '(N=143)

~athers' education

R squared 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.053

F 0.08 0.002 0.020 23.40***

Mothers' educa t ion

R squared 0.007 0.003 0.005 0.023

,F 0.95 0.47 0.70 10.12*

Fathers' occupation ,

R. squared ., 0.009 0.002 0.003 0.008,

F 1.10 0.26 0.42 2.86

Mothers' occup~tion

R squared CLOOO 0.007 0.003 0.0.17

F ,0.04 1.05 0.39 7.52*

----------------~--------------------------.......

1 * p<0.05 J

*** p~O.OOl

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... .:>0 .. 1

c

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79

When,data from alr schools were combined, parental

education was found to' be a significant predictor of

achievement in the KCE mathematics examination (p <0.001 and p

<0.05 for fathers and mothers respectively). Similarly,

mothers' occupation was a good predictor of achievement in the

KCE mathematics examination (p <0.05). When the various types

of schools were considered separately, parental education and ~

fathers' occupation were not found to be strongly related to

achievement in mathematics.

Parents of students in secondary schools appear to have

little or no direct infl~~nce on their children's school 'work.

AlI the extra-provincial schools studied p~ovided boarding

facilities for thei~ students. On_the other ~and, Harambee

school students either travelled from home to school daily,

lived in nearby towns with relatives, friends, or on their own.

Boarding facilities have been cited as correlates of school

achievement (Heyneman, et al., 1981, p. ~2?). Students in

~xtra-provincial and provincial schools, as boarders, have more

opportunities to interact with each other and with their staff

than the Harambee school students. Hence they can assist each

other in sssignments and other,academic matte~s. They do not

have to worry about cooking their own meals, obtaining kerosene

for lighting and reading, payment of house rents and other- suèh

out-of-school chores which the Harambee school students are

constantly faced with, making it difficult for them to

concentrate on their studies. The school lif~ of a student in

either an extra-provincial or a provincial institution i5

focuBed on doing well in natiQnal examinations such as the KCE.

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In addition, both extra-provincial and provincial schools ;

are generally better equipped with teaching-lea~ning

facilities, equipment, and materials (including textbooks).

The less adequate instructional conditions found in Harambee

schools renders student preparation for the KCE examinations ~

diffipult.

At the primary school level, the quali~y of parental

guidance and financial support appears important in

'determining, to a great extent, the kind of CPE grades a child~

gets and consequently the kind of secondary school the child ls

admitted into. The type of secondary school a child enters

seems to be crucial to success in the KCE examinations. A

student with poor CPE sco~es stands a very slim chance of doing

weil in KCE examinations if he or she goes t6 a Harambee ~~hool

where the teaching-learning environment is not as rich as that

of either an extra-provincial or a good provincial secondary

school.

3.6 Summary

The data obtained from the CPE e~amination results indicated

that students going ~nto extra-provincial, provincial~ and . .

Harambee secondary schools have significantly different entry

qualifications. The extra-provincial and provincial students

have higher secondary school entry qualific~tions than those in

Harambee schools.

The regression analyses indicated that parental education • 1 •

and occupat ion were generall'y good predictors of achievement in

•

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81

the CPE'examination when the type of school was not the issue.

Simila.rly,· parental education and mothers' occupation were~

found to be significant predictors of achievement in the KCE

examination. H9wever, when each type of school was considered

separate1y, on1y fathers' education (for 'extra-provincial

schools) accounted for achievement in the CPE examination.

Parenta1~characteristics were unre1ated tç achievement in the, .-

KCE mathematics examination.

The high correlation, between parental education and

occupation, especia1ly for parents of students in

extra-provincial schools suggests that the socio-economic , .

status of parents i5 impor~ant in determining which students go

to the best secondary' schoo1s in the country. The kind of

.secondary school a child is ad~tted into largely determines

his perf~rmance in the KCE exami~ations. If he gains admission

into an extra-provincial or provincial schoo1 where facilities,

attention and encouragement from teachers and fe110w 1

( schoolmates are morè readily avai1able than at Harambee schools

(partly due to the provision of boarding facilities in the ' o ,

, .' ....•

former) his chances of doing weIl in the KCE examinations are

increased great1y.

At the primary school leve1, parents are able to guide

their children in the preparation for the CPE examination

partly because many of them have attained at least this level

of education. At the secondary school level, most parents are ~

not capable of providing academic assistance to their children

preparing for the KtE examin~tions as few, ex~ept sorne (57%) " .

parents of children at the extra-pr"ovincia'l -schools, have

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attained this level of education.

Entry qualifications are the principal determinants of

success in the KCE examinations. However, instructional

resources may also play an important role in explaining the •

wide variatio~ in academic performance among the students

, enrolled in the three types of secondary schools: The next

chapter examines possible influences that schoql and teacher

characterist ics may have on stud~,nt achievement in the ReE

examinatipns.

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CHAPTER FOUR

SCHOOL AND TEACHER EFFECTS ON KC~ ACHIEVEMENT

" , In this chapter t qualitative variatio~mong o •

-~xtra-provincial, provinci~l, and Harambee schools in relation ---a to their possible contribution t~ student performance in the

KCE èxamination are 'discussed. The variables considered

include school, faciiities, teacher qualifications, lesson

preparation factors, and the use of laboratories for science

teaching. The views of school heads and teachers on the

influence of these factors on student achievement in the KCE

examinat~ons are also presented.

The one-way analysis of variance technique is used to

1 determine whether the mean scores in, KCE biology, physical

science, and mathematics scores of students in the provincial, ,

and Harambee secondary schools surveyed were significantly \

different. Of special interest\ is whether the students in

provincial schools performed better in science than in

mathematiès; this could be regarded as pointing to the

t, i~portance of laDôratory-based teaching-learn ing act i vi t ies in

àccounting for variation in academic achievement among students

in these two school types.

Teaèher qualifications and teaching experience are

examined to assess ,the quality of teaching staff in the three \

types of secondary schools. The chi-square test is used to

indicate the proportion of teachers in each school who have

attained secondary and post-secondary academic and.professional

il4Q,f(.

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()

training.

\ The test is also used to assess whether or not teachers \

84

from the tbree kinds of schools shared basically the same views . '

regarding the relative ,import~nce they attached to following • 0

the official syllabus, developing critical thinking among

students, and preparing candidates for external examinations.

The length of time teachers at the three kinds of schools

spent in preparing for laboratory lessons is also compared.

4.1 School facilities and KCE achievement

School and tèacher characteristics comprise~ composite of

endogeneous variables which May contribute significantly to

student success in KCE examina~ions. Among the important

sources of variation in student achievement in East Africa are

"differences in standards of teaching and equipment" (Somerset,

1966, p. 2), lack of textbooks, and congestion in classes

(Omondi, l 98'(),-p-. -6--)-, School facilities have been shown to be

important contributors to academic success in developing

countries (Heyneman and Jamison, 1980a, p. 214). Among the

crucial facilities that promote student achievement in the

Kenyan national examinations is the availability and efficient --.-.

use of science laboratories.

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4.1.1 Importance of the science 1aboratory in instruction

A Chinese proverb gives support to the value of science 1aboratory _1earning activities as fo11ows:

"1 "hear, and 1 forget~ 1 see, and 1 re~ember 1 do, and 1 understand~

(ln Wadsworth, 1978, p. 161).

A

85

Contemporary sc ience educators 1 (kewi se cons ider the ~abor8tory

to be an important component of scienc~ instruction (Shu1man

and Tarnir, 1973, pp. 1118-1119; Hurd, 1961, pp. 110-116; Tarnir,

1977, p. 311; Ausube1, 1968, pp. 345-347; Schwab, 1962, pp.

52-60; Yager, Engen, and Sn ider, 1969, p. 76; ,Sund and

Trowbridge, 1973,4pp. 5-9; Kyle et al., 1979, p. 545). " ,

Laboratory'science activities are therefore necessary for ,

preparing students for the KCE science examinations. Like Most -other examinations in science, the KCE science examinations

require the candidates to have mastered a certain body of

knowledge and açquired a number of"scientific process and

manipulative ski Ils. Examples of these skills include the

f-ormulating and stating of problems, contro11il1g variables,

handling equipment and other materials, designing experirnents,

making accurate observations, interpreting data, and making

Inferences. " Introduction to these skills and repeated guided

,- practice is mandatory before the students can function

efficientlyon their own (Beyer, 1985, p. 70). In addit'ion!

students are expected to develop such scientific attitudes a~

curiosity (for finding facts and relationships),--~

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openmindedness, objectivity, and the spirit of collaboration in - " ~

the search for truth (Shu1mao'and Tamir, 1973, p. 1119; .. , Raghubi r , ,1979, 'p. 13). An inqui r}:' approach to teachiog has

also been shown to promote the development of critical'thinking

~Y8ger and Wick, 1966, pp. 16-2~; Allison, 1973, p. 3422A). ,

The ability to determine logiçal inconsistencies in a line of

r'easo." i ng and to detect bias is a ~~monstrat iOA of critical

" thinking (Beyer, 1985, p. 7.&) • li" ~ '. . , A study by Raghubir 0,97-9 ) demonstrated that studen'ts

learning.science in an entirely 1nvestigative manner ,"acquired

a greater.understandi~g of scienc~, greater information

retention, and better ability to think scientifically" than . ,

those who had been taught by the "Iecture-laboratory" approach

(Raghubir, 1979, p. 16). Raghubir further noted that studen';s ..

, following the "laboratory-i~vestigative" approach acquired

scientific attitudes that appearèd re1a~ed ~o their academic . .

achievement. A similar finding was obtained by Saunders and , - \ '

, ,

Dickinson (1979, pp. 459-464-) when they compared academ!-c ,0

perforpance of students le&rning science by the "lecture-only"

method and those taught by the. "lecture-laboratory" method.' .,.

S~udents following the latter method achieved moreoin and

developed more favourable attitudes toward b~ological scrence (1 • , )" ,

courses than their counterparts taking th~ same courses but

taught by. the former method.

Thus, ,the laboratory should be a place w~re "the

discovery by a student is both pos~ible and encouraged" 50 as

to facilitate the acquisition of scientific skills ~nd

attitudes (Lunetta and Tamir, 1981', p. 636). This underlines

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the .imp,orta'nce of experience, which according to Dewey (1938, • p. 89), is the key to acquiting education that would enable

bO,th the i.ndividua1 and th~oè:iety to "accomplish its ends~:

In the context of principl~s of learning, this means tha~'

students "learn best by being involved" (Sund and' Trowbridge,

1973, p. "27),. La.boratory-based inst-rûct,ion is -an efficient 'way

of promoting active learning. E~aminations ~hich requi~e prior' , -

student experience in the use of laboratory ma~~rials and

equipm~t:lt are likely to be problematic, t? candidates who lack

sût? exposure . . '

4.1-.2 11

Achievement in scienc~ and mathematics in provincial

and Harambee schools

In the previoust::ter ft was' noted that academic .~... :-, ,,')

achievement in the K E examinations was significantly différe~t

across extra-provincial, p~ovincial, 'a~d Hara.mbee sec'ond~

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~ ~ schoQls. An examination of the mean scores in KCE mathem%.t"ics, . . ~ . biology, and physical science subjects ~evealed that the

.. difference in academic success betw~en provincial and,Harambee

schools was ,"",-greater in physical sc ience and biology than. i t ~as

in mathemati'cs. This me'an différence was- greatest in physica-8.

science.

The, information in Table X on pag.e BB shows the r'esult-g of

a one~way ana1ysis of var~ance:of the m~~ scores in KCE '

physic~l science, biology, and mathematics examinations for Il

students in provincial and Harambee schools selected for the ~ \

surv~y. 'T.?e asterlsks indicat~' the level of 9ignificance v a

obtai~d when the Mean score for each sUbject' for students in

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provincial schools was compared to the mean score in th~~

s~bject fOl" students~ in Ha~ambee schools.

) Table X

.~

RESULTS OF A ONE-WAY ANOVA'OF MEAN SÇORES IN KCE PHYSICAL SCIENCE, BIOLOGY, AND MATHEMATI'CS FOR STUDENTS IN PROVINCIAL'

. AND HARAMBEE SCHOOLS

.KCE paper:

~hysical sc ieQ.ce

Biology

Mathematics

,PROVINCIAL

(N=17'Z)

J

5.85

,HARAMBEE

(N=143)

8.l7**~

8.08~**

8.51***

.*** p<O. 001

, , ~ ... /;1 _ .~, ,

~i f ferenc,e in means

2.32

;. 1.91

1.74

", ,

Note: ...

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a: higher score!}' jndicate lower ranking b; in physical science, N=39 and 58 for 'provincial

a,.nà Harambee schools respect i vely' (sée Table II 'on page 54).

• L '

The d~ta in ~able X ~b~ show,that the mean scores in_

physical'science, ,biology, and mathematics are higher for . . \ . . students.in Harambee ~chools than for students in provincial

. ~

schools. 'Howe~er', aécording to the KCE gradi,n'g 'syst~!l'_ , ) "" ~ '.

~ discussed ip Chaptér. l, the se ,figures actually indicate that

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students in t~e provinci~l schools obtâined better KCE results , \

'in aIl 'three,subjects than those in the Harambee schools. ln fA

the~ subjects'the mean sèores for stud~t6 in provincial

sChools were aIl "cr'edits" while the mean scores for student'S .

iri Harambee schools were in the "pass" category. In other

vords, the mean scores in these three subjects wer~ higher for - ' . students in provincial' schools than 'for students in Harambee

,schools. ~ , .

The differen~~ between the mean scor~s in mathemattcs ,

among the two, ttpe.s of -institutions, was 1. 74 while the . . differences for biology and ph'ysical science were 1.91 and 2'.32 . '

respectively. This suggests that the differe~In\ achievement

was greater in the sciences than in mathematics.

The greater difference in mean scores for biology and . '

physicâl sciençe,~han for matpematics can be interpreted as

indicat i ng thiit for' the prov i nc ia land Harambee schools, ......

variation in student achievement was greater in subjects t..

requiring laborato~y-ba'serl instructi~n. It was noted in

Chapter 1 that provinciàl schools h~d bettei equipped . - , .

lab~rator}es than the Harambe~ schools which lack~ many of the

basic materials necessary for s~ientific investigations. . " This

. shortage of ess,ent ial equipment and other suppl ies made i t ,

difficult for students to have sufficient )

'"hands-on-experiences" ,in sci~ntific investigations. ~

Hence .

most of the experiments presèrib~d in the syllabi ~ere either , .

taught thepretically or ~ere carri~d out in the form of

dêmonstrations by the teacher.

Due to insufficien~ 'hands-on' ,xperiences, the ~CE -candidates from the ~arambee schools st~died must have found . ,

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the 1984 biology and physical science practical examinations to

1 be di f f icul t. For ex~mple, the phi"sica1 sc i-ence pract ical ta \ (paper 3a), which had only. one main question with four parts~

\

required the use of a voltmeter. Candidates who were , - ..,J c

unfamiliar with the use of this piece of apparatus cQuld not be

expected to successf~lly answer this question. The chemistry

• practicai part of thè physical science test also cinsisted of , c- ,

one' main questi'on that required the application of laboratory \ .

. procedure and chemistry theory to identify a given substance.

Candidates: wi thout the requi r~d pract icaL exper i-enc~ and

theoretical knowledge would most likely have experienced great

- difficulty in answering this question. In the biology

pract ica 1 (541, "papetl 2) one of the .three quest ions invol ved

the use 01 a microscope to identify two specimens. Students ,

at tending schools wi thout microscopes, (or w i th too few -to - ( ,

accommodate large classes) faced signiricant problems in trying )

to answér this question. Neither of the Harambee schools had_~

the equipment necessary to prepare students f~r these "

quesqons.

" 4.1.3 Opinions of school heads and teachers regarding the

the in~luence of fa~ilit1ès on student achievement. , , -

School heads and science/mathematic,s teachers unanimously tl< ô1 M

, " ? ~" .. " Il'''''~

L:.tl. ... ,· ... .';.~".

observed that school facilities are a key source of variation >il • • •

"'in studènt achievemeot ~mong extra-provincial, provincial;"and

Harambee schools and that ther,e is a, certaiI1 minimum number of

bas~c' items which a ~eacher requires for teaching-~ea~ning

purpos~s. Béyond t~is, what is required is th& te~cher's

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initiative and an "ap~r~poriate" instructional strategy whereby , ,' ..

emphasis is placed _o~. "how" the items are 'used rather than on '. Mere accumulation of materials. As mentioned above,

extra-provincial.and provincial schools had better equippeà ,.

laborat'ories than the Harambee schools. The Harambee sc.h.ools~ 1'" __ ~

~weJte 'found ~to be deficient in basic supplies fo~ teaching \ ," - "

science. This made it difficult for the students in these

schools to compete~favourably with th~ candidates in the other ;,

two t',?pes of schoo'ls in science laboratory basoed KCE questions.

Finance was cited by aIl school heads as being a major

problem hindering the availability of adequate teaching

resources. Extra-provincial schools spend more money on " ,

",~'~é~~uired supplies i.n-sc).ence and' mathematics 'than do prqvinciai

and H~ramb~e sch09l~. In School 2, an-extra-proviQcial'

, institution with a student enrollment of 450 in 1984, the,

average annua! expe'ndi t ure on ~cience"was 13 / 500 Kenya l'

shillings <Cd{l $ 1,3'50) which correspon"ds to 30 shillings (Cdn

$ 3) per student' per year. - The average expenditure on . ' ,

mathematics at this school was 3,600 Kenya shillings (Cdn $ ...", .'. '

360), which was about 8 shillîngs (Cdn'$ 0.80) per student per

. annum. The other extra-provincial school spends about 27

shillings '('tdn $ 2.70)' per 11tudent per year on < science and a .. \ . , - "

little ovcr ~ shillings (Cdn $ 0.70) per-stûdent pe~ annum on . ,

mathematics. At ScMool 3, a provincial school with a student • t

enrollment of 670, the corr~sponding "nnuaI expe,ndi ture on

sci~nce and,mathem~tics was 17,000 and 4,~00 Kenya shillihgs

(Cdn $ 1;700 and 450) respecti,,:,e1f,:_ representing an average of

25 (Cdn $ 2.50) and 7 ~iliing~ (Cdn $ 0.7U) per student for

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the"yeaJ?

No annual ëxpenditure was available from the Harambee

schools. However, judging by the supply of materials available·

in these schools, their expenditure is l~kely to have been much c

less tAan that of the provinc ial and extra-provinci.al schooJ.s--

per;haps less than one or two~ shill'ings (Cdn $ 0.10 or 0.20) per

student for sc1ence and mathematics. This difference in , '

expenditure suggests that extra-provincial J~d provincial

schools'spend more money to stock thei~ already comparatively

wel~ equipped laboratories than the Harambee schools. Such a

situation explains why éxt~a-provincial and provincial schools

provide better educational experiences to their stùdents who in

turn do much bette1r in the KCE' examinations than the students

in.the Harambee schools. , ,

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4.1.4 Textbook availability

Most stience educators' believe that 'supplemen'tary ~ading

materials can improve the quality of science instruction (Hurd,

1961, p. 226). For ~he KCE examinations, ,thei help to supply

the back-up knowledge necessary for the consolidation of theory

"with practice.

The importa.nce of the complementar i ty between the

laboratory and textbooks has been stressed by Ausubel who said:

"The laboratory ••• should be carefully integrated with the ~extbook, that is, it should ~eal with methodology related to the subject mat\er of the course, and not with experiments chosen solely because of their"suitability for illustratjng various strategies of discovery." (A~subel, 1968, p. 346t

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· It is therefore of paramount importance that secondary schools, •

especially the Harambee institutions, ensure that they have an 4

adequate supply of basic physical facilities and pedagogical

materials before enrolling their students in scie~urses •

To aetermine this ~spect ~he science and mathematics .

t~achers,were asked to ihdicate the kind (subject) and number , ,

of te~tbooks which they and their Form IV students used o~a

regular.basis. Table XI below contains a summary of their ,

responses.

!

., Table XI

~

MEAN NUMBER OF STUDENTS PER TEXTBOOK BY TYPE OF SCHOOL

Extra-provincial' Provincial \

Harambee

SCHOOL SUBJECTS:

Mé'thematics 1.5 .. 2.0 '2.5

Biology 2.6 2.8 9 4~O

Chem\istry --1.0 2.4 5.5

physics 2.0 0 1.5 4.0 "

, The data in Table XI indicate that the extra-provincial

'"

and .provincial schools had more book~ àvailable for student usé

tha~ the Harambee schools. For example, the number of students

per biology or physics textbook in extra-prov~ncial schools was

half that in Harambee schools, while there were six times as 1

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Many chemistry textbooks available to students in the

extra-provincial schools.

Schools also di ffered in regard to the availab,ili ty of oP library facilities. One of the extra-provincial fchools had

two weIl equipped libraries, one organised mainly for the '"

senior .students (Forms Y' and VI) and another one serving the ~

lower classes (Forms l to IV). The other extra-provincial

94

school and one of ~he provincial schools had one generally weIl

equipped library each. The second provincial school had 1

several fairly weIl st?cked departmental libraries instead of a

main school library. In addition, the students had an access .. to a nearby Kenya National Library ~ervice branch. According

to the staff, ~veryday at 4:30 (at the end of the school day),

students went in large numbers to borrow books from this

library. As far as the Harambee schools were concerned, one of

the schools did not have a library and the other h?d one room (7

in which less than a hundred books were kept for use by over • ' A1 ~

1 J

four hundred students. ·~ince textbook availabflity has been '\

shown to correlate positively with academic success (Heyneman

et al., 1981, p. 220-230), such differences are likely to have

contributed to the differential achievement in the KCE

. examinations among students attending the three types of

schools •

The problem of reading materials ls widespread among

Harambee schools. " AS one of the Harambee school teachers

pointed out in an appeal for public li brary services to be

ava i la bIt t~ their stu,dents:

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"Students in Harambee schools need public library services morè than anybody else III because parents who have built these schools cannot afford all the necessary textbooks." _ (The Standard, 1985, pp. 10-11)

-This teacher 1 like the Harambee "teachers interviewed in ~B

s,urvey 1 emphasrz'ed the need for adequate 1ibrary support--~

services to meet the needs and interests of the student ,body 1

,

4.2 Qualifications and teaching experience of science

and mathematics teachers '!>-.!

Table' XiI on the following'page presents information 'on C1

the professio~~l and academic qualifications of the teachers

95

studied. A teacher with an undergraduat'e degree in science and

a university t~adhi~g diploma is represented as a B.Sc.,

pip.Ed. holder. Teachers trained at unive~sity leve1 during . ~ ~

which they study two secondar~ school teaching subjects and

education for' three years r~ceive a B.Ed. ,Teachers classified

as Dip.Ed. holders have taken education and tw~ teaching

~ubjec~s at a university or college for a period of two years. d

. . Finally, the SI teachers are teachers trained at pre-university

colleges as diploma teachers, but for three instead of two

years. Candidates for the two-year diploma programme have

obtained 'A' level qualifications while SI teachers typica1ly q

comptete '0' level studies prior to undertaking professional

'training.

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Table XII

u ,

PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS TEACHERS BY TYPE OF SCHOOL

dl>

Extra-provincial provincial Harambee o

(N-13) , (Na::13)

" % )\>'

Professional ---~ qualif ications:

" B • sé: • ,D i p • Ed • 23.1 0.0 0.0

B.Ed. 53.8 54.5 20.0

Dfp.Ed. 7.7 9.1 0.0

SI 1,5.4 36.4 80.0

Total . 100.0 100~0 100.0'

0 XZ • 9.5, ,df -= 6, NS

The data show that there was no significant,.difference ",1

96

(NS), in'the training of science and mathematiés teachers acr~ss , ' 1

extra-provincial, provincial, and Harambee schools (~>O.05) • ., 1

o

But the ~roportion of teachers who" received university training

-'''i5 . h~gher ~t extra-provincial and provincial schools. About

, 77% of the extra-provincial and 55% of the provincial teachers

had reèeived professional traiqing at the bachelors level. On

~ the éther hand, the majority (80%) of the teachers in Harambee­

schools had received their training at teachers colleges

offering SI diplomas. In addition, teachers at the '" extra-provincial and provincial ~chools were somewhat more

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experienced having spent about six years in teaching compared

to an average 'of four years for the teachers at Harambee

schools.

The data presented above is indicative of the national .'

situationoinsofar as the distribution of trained teachers is

concerned. Approx imately 90% of the staf f in the government , '

97

maintained s~condary schoo1s are professionally qualified to

teach in tl)ese institutions (Li1lis, 1986, p. 21). From 1973

to 1977, the proportion of qua1ified teachers in unaided,

Harambee schools dropped f~m- 30\ to 25% (Lillis, 1986, p. 21) • ....

Further, in 1982, about 86.5% of aIl gradu9te and approved , "

(promoted to graduate status on account of outstanding

professional competence) teachers were teaching in government

maintained schodls as opposed to on1y 11% in Harambee schools

(L i Il i s, op. ci t ., p. 22).

Previous research has shown that both teacher

qualifications and teaching experience influence academic

achievement (Cuttance, 19BO, p. 272). The quality of teache~

tr~ining has avIso been shown to be positively associated with

student achievement in developing countries (Heyneman et al.,

1981, p. 227). This may part1y explain why'students in the

extra-provincial schools did better in the RCE examinations

than those in provincial and Hararnbee schoo1s where teachers

were ,not as weIl qua1ified (especially in Harambee schools) and

had relatively 1ess teaching experience.

\

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'-. .. -- --_. __ .~--~-_. __ ._._~.~.; t

4.3 Lesson preparation and teaching methods --4.3.1 Lesson preparation

A number of factors are involved in deciding w~o A

, " teach. Some of the lesson preparation considerations and their

r~lative import~nce as perceived by the science ~nd mathematics

teacherS studied are described in Table XIII on the next page.

They include the use of syllabi and prescribed textbooks, the

encouragement of critical thinking, and the preparation for

external examinations.

. "

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--

-

-----

f' ~

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Table XI II

SCIENC~ AND MATHEMA1ICS tfEACHERS' LESSON PREPARATION CONSTDEaATIONS BY TYPE OF SCHOOL <Ir.

o

•

SCHOOL TYPE " , 0

Extra-provinciâl provincial Harambeé (N.'7 )

, Less@ 'plan Cons idera t ions

1. Following the syllabus:., very irpportant of sorne importance of little importance not important

Total

.., 2. Foll.owing

prescribëd textbooks: very important

"

of sorne importance of little importance not important

Total \

3: Encouraging critiéal thinking: very important of sorne importance

'.1 i tt1e importance not important

Total

4. Preparing for external examinations: very important

'of sorne importance of little impo~tance not important

Total

\ 1 ,. t

(N e I3) (N~'13)

%

~3.3 16.7

()..O 0.0

100.0

,

%

100.0 0.0 0.0

. O.p 100.0

%

• \ 0

71.·4, , 28.6-0.0 0.0

'" 100.0

'" X Z e 5. l, d f II: 6 ~ NS

100.0 ,-~.O -

u.O 0,0

100.0

. 44 ~ 4 55.6

0.0 0.0

100.0

,\ . '0.0, 50.0

" 50.0 0.0

100.0

X2 = 14.4, df = 4, P <O.Ql

91.7 8.3 0.0 0.0

1 100.0

75.0 25..0 O~Q 0.0

100.0

" 100.0

0."0' 0.0 0.0

100.0

X 2 = 2. 8, df .', 2, NS

83.3 16.7

0,0 0.0

10,0.0

63.6 27.3

"" 9.1 ,().O

;LQO.O.

66.1-16.} 16.7 '

O.D. 100.0

X 2 • 2.5, df • 4, fiS

. .

99

.'

1 "

'.

. '

--_ ... - • .. ~

" ~ ... , ..

100 e

Kenya's education syst~m like that. tn Many other ,

0

deve10plng Jountr~es i~ examination oriented and based on

L off'i~ial sy~l~~i th~t t~acher~ fOl,lOW."\' It is th~refore' 4nderstandable that the scierrce/mathematic~ teachers studied'

'were genenüly in, agreement ,about. the importance of

implementing, th~ prescribed cUfr,iculum. Over 70% of the'

teachers in each type of school considered"adherence to ,the, ~

.

sy-llabus as bei ng ext remely impor,tant and crUc ial to success in

,1

aoy exami nat i o.n .

~e~Pi te the fact .that t~achers from' the three types of

sc~pois shqred si~ilar ,-:ièws r.~9arding' the importahcè of

syllabus coverage,. i t ~ was notep that 'the Harambee schô~ls did

not 'cover the O-level science syllabus in time. While

extr,a-provincial 'and 'pro~incial sçhoè~s had covered -the .

syllabus' by the ,end of ,the -seco'nd term' (end o'f. July), the ~ ,

, . teachers in Ha~am~ee schools were ~til1 .èaching new material ..

, l '

, during the third term -;- barel'y one and a nalf months awày from

the RCE examinations~ This did'nct leave teachers and student~

at the.;Harambee schools with ample time for completion ahd/or

revision.

°One reason why teachers in Harambee ,schools did not te'ach .

a~l that they were expected to teach in preparatio~ for th~ KCE , ~

exami,nation is that a substantial numbet of st,udents' àre .. ,

frequently sent home for school fees. At 'one of the Harambee , \

,,0

schools studied, sorne students were away f~om school on account ~

. ~ of unpaid fees for a week, a. month, or even for a whole term. ,

Such a situation not on~y slowed dow~ the enti~e'progress of a

class but,~fso lowered the morale of the te~chers.

"

, " 1

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o .'

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l '

o

101

Only t,he views of teachers regarding the use of prescribed

textboôks differed 'significantly.' While aIl the teachers from , "

èxtra-provincial ~chOOls and over'40% of the provinci;l school

teachers felt 'that· using ~co~menQed books wa~ very important,

npne of the teachers f~om Harambee schools felt this way. Half

of the .te~che~s 'in Har~mbee schools considered the use of

prescribed textbooks as being relatively im~ortant (but not

very important). Over half (55~6%) of the the sci~nce staff of

the pr'ovinc ial schools were of ./the same 0pinion., ~

Teach,ers who viewed the use of ,prescr i bed textbooks as - . '

being, of relatively'little importance argued that it was better

to uèe several books b~cause no sin~le textbook was good in ihe

coverage of a Il topics. As ,log ical as ,thi s may' be, 'i t i s

likely t~at the Kenya National Examinations,Cou~cil uses mainly

the informa~ion pr~sertted in'the reco~m~nded texts when setting " "

- the KCE'examinations, thereby making it harder for .stude,nts who 1

do not use these books to do weIl in these examinations.

~ga~di\ng'/r i t ~cal,.ç;h,inki ng, most' te~chers. f rQm aIl three'

, types of schools agreed that the development of this skil~ in

stude~ts was a very important 'objècti~e. They als~ ha~ si~ilar

views about external examinations. ,

~ A secondary school t~acher has many responsibilities. H~

or she may be ori supervisory dut y "for the week. He or she may . be a game~ and athletics master, ~lub'or society p~tron,

housemaster, counselldr, class teacher (attending to the needs

of a specifie class)', or head of a department, in -addition to

hls or her major'ass~gnment-- teaching (Republic of Kenya,

«

\

0'

.. "

(,

'",

. " !

1979b, pp. ~6). As a subject teacher, a secondary scnoo1

tea~her is expecte~, among other things, to'prepare lesson

notes and to set qnd mark Interim examinations to assess the

achievement of the in,tende'd instructional outcomes. Lesson ,

102,

preparation in sci~nce, especially for laboratory activities,

is'of speci~l importance in that it is concerned with&the

assembly 9f ideas which enable learners to gain knowledge

empi r ically thro_ugh "the sc ient if ic methfd". Th i s method

reçiuires that a problem bi defined or. presente~ and a solution -sought through a systematic inv~stigatory proc~dure whièh "

, l includes problem statement, data collec~{on (using specified

'" . materlals and techniques), data analysis, and drawing

con~lusions •

The variety an~ depth'of sçientific investigations will

.vary from school to school depending 'on such factors as. the

teacher's crea~ivity, stvdents' knowledge of th~ topic in

'quest ion, the ava i labi 1 ty of textb,Ooks and other i.nst'ruct ional

mater ials and equipment, and f'in~lly, clàss .size. Fac i 1 i t ies

fo~ teaching scienc~, experience with laborat~ry equipment, 'and ,

familia~itY ~i~h syllabus requirements, are~critical ~

determinants of hQw long a tea~her will take, to prepare

'! " laboratory le'Ssons. The t ime -taken by sc ience ~eacheJ;'s to

prepare for laboratory lessons is summarized in T9ble ~V shown

on the next page. • "

. i -

. ,

b '

,

1

!'

. __ .-----

( --"

'? -' , '

n , 103

0 l , Table, XIV . '

~ ~ , '

TlME . SCIENCE TAKEN BY TEACHERS TO PREPARE BACH ~ABOR~TORY

'LESSON ~ - 1 ~,

~

SCHOOL TYPE

" 'E~tra,provincial provincia'l Haramb~e

, ~ r <

.\

" (N=13j (N=l3) (N.:7 ) , • .!li , % %

,

\. Time (hours)

~/4 0.0 0.0 20 .• 0 ;

1 '30.0'" 28.6 , 60010.

1 .. 5 10.p 'Q 57.1 0.0 .. 2 and over 60.0 14.3 ""20.0

-~ --~

O-r

Total " 100.0 100.0 '1·00.,0 ,(

? ------------.------------------- --.,- - - - ------l '\ P,

"

Xl = 12.7, df '" 6,' P <0.05 , .

, . "-

The information in Tablé XIV indicates that the time taken

, to prepare for science laboratory lessons i s si9n if icantly ,1

, .. different across the three types of schools. Teach.~rs in

<- __ ; ___ • 1

extra-provincial schools take more time to prepar'e !:heir

laboratory ~o~k than their count~~~art~ in provincial ~nd 'Harambee schools. (More than half (60%) of the teachers in

'e~xtra-provincial sch'oÇ>ls take twc;> hours or more 'for lesso"

breparation~ whil~ t~e same ~roportion of teachers in Harambee

, 'schools take one hour or less. Teachers in provinc i al schools )

'",

Il

,

\

c

l· (

"

, -

,

! ..

104

fall in between with over half (57%) of them using about one " ,

and à half hours per preparation. 'Perhaps teachèrs in the

Hararnbee schools spent more of thei'r time on other activities, - '

ra'ther' than preparing their laboratory lessons.. This is Most . , . lik~l~'due to the fact that there wer~ inadequate laboratory

supplies and equipment which limited the number,and kind of ~

âctivities that the teache~s could organize.

Although much science teaching·will fake place in the ..' , ,. .

laboratory, no .. t' aIl of i_t ~eedS take place ,i nS,ide th~

laboratoty. Nqt aIl science topics in, science lend themselves l .'

to- experimentation at the secondary school level e.g. "atomic . . ,. ,

st ructure n in"' chemi'st ry, or "evol ut ion" in bi'ology. . Other

topicQs are bet ter taught out side ~1ife c,lassroom, e. g. "~qolbgy". , - - - - , l '

, "However, the proportion ,of time that students spend on , .

labbratory act i v,i ties is, in the Renyan .c"ontext, an indication

of the extent of~KPosure to the practical, experience expected

in the KCE examinations. Table XV' on page 'IDS presents

info~mati~n on the propo~tion of total time allocated for

science teaching that teachers actually use in laboratory " , .

- /

, ,

o

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. , , '\

• ~ -. >

v'

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o

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o

, , -

• , .-

105

Ta~le,XV' .

PROPORTION OF TIME SCIENCE IS TAUGHT IN THE .LAB'ORATORY BY TYPE OF SCHOOL

Extra-provincial {N=13}

%

% of tota~ time used in labo activities

< 40 O. O'

40-60 ..., 40.0 ( '" . 60-80 . 0.0

> 80 60.0 .-

Total 100.0 ~

.'

-

-.-

Provincial~ (NlI:l~)

%

;,'

0.0

28.6

57.1

14.3

100.0

,

Harambee '< (N-7)

-%

./ 40.0

. 60.0 , -

0.0

-'0.0

100.0

X 2 = 20. 8, d f, = 6 , p<' O. 0

, -

, ,

In the tl~ree schoo,ls _ (two ~'x'tt'a-provinc laI and one , ..

pr6vincial) that'offered c&emistry; biQ1bgy, and physics to - , ~

Form" IV students; fou,r 40-minute periods, wer,e allocated to each

, ~

.subj'ect per week. At one provinc.ial and the' two Harambee" . . '

·scho01s, three 40-minute'perlods were allocated, to physical . - ,

science. However, for each subject, at leàst, one, 80 minute

period was suppos~d ta b~ spen~ on practical work in the - -

l~boratory, The data indlcate that relatively'more science- .

teaching occurred in the laboratory in ~xtra~~rovincia~ schools

than in the,other two types of institutions. Over half (60%) 1 , t.

... "

. ,

",

" "

,.0,

1

106 '.

of the teac~ers in extra-provincial ~chools spent more than an% ,

of thei~ science teaching periods in the laboratory. Only

14.3% of the teachers in provincial sçhools spent a similar v

proportion of the time on'laboratory science activit~es. In

Harambee schools most science teaching was done in regular

classrooms and students had less oppdrtunity to carry out

laboratory investigations than those in extra-provincial and - 1

provincial schools. The lack of practical laboratory

, , experience has in 'fact been recognised as a major source of >

poor results ~~ the KCE examinations (Kenya National ,

Examinations Council, 1982, p. 25).

4.3.2 Teaching methods

Teachers use a variety of teaching approaches and

techniques in their daily practi~eh q

While sorne teaching

rnethods such as the class practical (i.e. laboratory work) and

field'w6rk are more student-centred, othe~s, like the lecture r

methoQ, :involve 'less pupil participation. The research • evidence and science educators's'views cited previously point

to the indispensability of student involvement in science

• instruction.

_Virtually aIl the lessons observed in.~xtra-provincial a'nd

p~ovincial schools involved the use of teaching aids during Il,

either demonstrations by the teacher, or in class practicals~

In addition, there were a number of wall charts and models to

refer to as 'teaching aids which made the classrooms appear

conducive to learning. 'On the contrary, such materials were

not see~ in any of the Harambee school classrooms. Moreover,

•

, '"

o

o

o

107

regrrding the lessons observed in these schools, teachers used

chalkboard as the only visual teaching aide Harambee students J

'were rarely involved in the presentation of lessons. They

mainly listened to the teacher. For example, in a lesson on

"Laws of motion,", a teacher in a Harambee school spent two

., ,

periods (BQ minutes) on the definitions of speed, velocity, and

acceleration, including sample calculations without Qnce

inviting the students to discuss these topies.

The Kenya Nation~l Examinations Council suggests that

t"chers should combine'b~th the discovery method and didactic

exposition "sometimes using one and sometimes the other, taking

the best of both" {Kenya National Examinatiohs Council, 1981b, '-

p. 28}. This advice' is bas~d on._the successful experience of

'skillful' teachers who "have realized that shortage of time

doe~ not allow children to discover everything .•• ", but who

ha~ also "realized that most children do not learn to think

scientifica~ly or with.understanding unless they plan to earry

out sorne investigatory experiments themselves" (Kenya National

Examinations Council, 1981b, pp. 28-29). Using both approaches -. . ensures that the pupils,are "introduced to aIl the material

relevant to the syllabus while also developing the other skills

and abilities a~30ciated ~~th both theory and.practical work"

{Kenya Natioh~l Examinations Council, 1981b, p. 29}., Thus, the

teacher would have to combine sueh metnods as lecture and /

demonstrations with class practicals, di~cussions, and' field

trips. The choice of the méthod or methods would vary from one , .

teaching situation to another depending on teaching f~cilitie8,

teacher competency in the topic at hand, and other perbinent . -o

"" l' 1 , '

. ,

factors. Hovever, it ia important for the tea~~ers to realise ~ .

that "in sc)ence, theory and practice are inseparable

compopents to a universal understanding of-~hat is being

lear~ed" (Kenya National Examin~tions Council,. ~982, p. 25 ); ,

the two should be conveniently blended to maximize learning.

'Fourteen of th~ 16 lessons giv~n by s1x extra-provincial

and seven pro~incial teacher~ reflected the,' combin~d , '

'discovery-tlidactic approach. Only 1 of the 6 lessons reco(ded

from five 'Harambee school teachers il;lu~tràted the use of this co

teaching strategy. An excerpt from one of the lessons making

use of this combined approach is given below. It was taught to l '

a Form IV biology class at one of the extra-provincial schools

stud,ied.

~/ 1 . '-T' SOIL .-

, c

, .

Teacher: "Now, 1 think we vent as far-as classifying" soi~ into'clay soil, loam soil, and sand soil. Now, let's'look at the general composition of the three types of ~oil that we talked about under the heading 'SOIL TYPE, COARSE SAND, FINE SAND, AND CLAY' •

Generally" we talk about sand soil i·f it has 67.% coarse sand, 18% fine sand, .6% silt, and 9% clay. So, when a composition of a soil is that way, we refer to i t as sandy soil. "

~ Then we have got loam soi1\ The amount varies a little, but usually, it has 'got 27% coarse sand, !2% fine sand, 21% silt, and 20% clay. Let me say that this can vary from 9ne type of loam soil to the other, but usually the variation is quite small.

Then we have got clay. As the word suggests, we must have ver~y little sand, and therefore, 1% sand. J N,9w, the fine sand is only 9% and the s,ilt is 22% , and the clay is068 t. So as the word suggests, of course you can see here ••• when we are talking of ciay, it has got more of clay than anything else. When you talk of sand, the amount of this, that,

.1 >'d--:" f. . ~ , .... ~ • • .... , .••• ~,

..

o " \

.'

o

' ..

o

. that, and this, is also quite high: Now, when

.. you talk of loam soil, you can see that although there is variation, the variation is quite 8mall -- 32% being the largest, then silt 21%, clay '20~. I said you could be gi ven the figures, but ev en if t"he figures vary, they will vary very little in the case of loam".

1

Thus far, the teacher presented his lesson didactically.

109'

p

Continuing in the same way, he went on tO,discuss< the organic

.nd )noiganic constituents of the soil at the end of which he

said:

,,"Now, we also know that there i 5 a1so what we cal·l soi~ water. But before we.deal with soil water, 1 want ~ou to do a small exercise whereby you will be trying to find~the composition of the soil.

t Now, we will use those measuring cylinders there with some soils. So what you do is (again you shall work in groups), you"hold your measuring cylinder, ~hake it hard a~ much as you cano Leave it to settle, and then draw a, diagram showing the various layers of soil. If you can be able to'identify fair enough.

50, under the heading 'COMPOSITION-OF THE SOIL', aIl what you do i5 you will shake the water, and the soil. This is loam soil. We got it from just next 'here ••• in our garden here. 50, you just shake i t, let it settle, and in the process of settling, look at what ls happening to the particles. So, again you work in

. groups".

The students then went to work. The teacher visited various 0-

groups to assist them and at the end of the class the results

of the practical were discussed. o

Teacher: "We said that loam soil has got approximately the same amount of sand, silt, and clay. 50 what do you calI this?"

Pupil: soil profile

Teacher: Sedimentation ••• ,th'is process of trying to put. <water to try and find the composition of the soil. For those who don't know, write the w?rp 'sedimentation'.

$ ;

........ -- \.'

- • f'"

--,1

110

We shall describe it further later •. Now, .one' or two groups have had a largé sheet of

water. It lS coloured water. If it is coloured water, there can be nothing else that has coloured it; Q

It was clean when you put it there ••• the water wa~ clean. Therefore, i t must be that what colour,ed • this water is of course soil particles. 50, you would consider that ~s the 'fine soil particles' part of the soil.

Now, ;what about the materials at the top? , They are some of the materials that are not dècomposed plus of course sorne of the materials that are ' • decomposed. L

Now, what about, the 'materials at the bottom?"

5tudents gave a variety of re~ponses to which the teacher said:

"Some are saying clay, others are saying grave! or coarse sand , ••• O.K., you have to label your diagram. The­layers must be clear in the dra~in9".

Thus, the teacher' left the students wi th a ~rObleID--. to solve,

namely, to find ~ut the names g~~en to the variou$ layers

produced by sedimentation. It is important ~o note here also

that this teacher, who had been marking KCE biology for ~ ~ ,

years, probably presented those points which he conside.re.d most , .

o li!.

important for KCE examination purposes sucq as the major type's

of,soil, the components of soil, and the soil profile as D

demonstrated by the sedimentation experiment. Indeed, at one

point dur i ng the lesson the teacher told the st udents, that ~ n

an examination they could be given soil composition data which G,.

may be slightly different from ,those he had given and aske.d to

1dentify the soil sample. He told them th~t aIl they needed ~~ >

do in -this case was to recall the proportions of soil . components discussed in this lesso~ in order to draw an

( , ~

appropriate conclusion from tlif? data presented in the •

examination.

The one Harambee school teacher who presented a

,0

) Q

, !> •

,0

. i

o

III - "irt

discovery-didactic lesson treated it more like a revision. The

teacher spent at least three quarters of the class period

t~11in9 the class what the results of the expe'riment woul-d be,

thereby, not only âiseouraging the student's curiosity to

"aiscover", but also leaving them with insufficient time for

the laboratory'work. An excerpt of the lesson appears below: - \ ,

f

TOPIC: CARBONATES

" Tea~her: "1 hav~ sorne carbonates here. 1 am going to

give you sorne of~thes~ carbonates to heat. The'carbonates that l am having here are copper carbonate; ano,tberllone is lead carbonate, •. , _ No~ before we think of~heating, what do you know about the effect of heat on carbonate~? Do they decompose or not?" 10 "

u.

There was a response from ~arious corners of the

classroom to which the teacher. directed: "One person, one'"

person.

" '. Student: ~hey decompose into carbon dioxide an~ •••

Teacher: ,

"We are concerned with which'decompose .•• We are concerned with which decompose easily. Now, the carbonates which 1 have are of 'course here. l have arranged them in order of how they decômpose.' Now'; ~i f· ,. for example, let us start with potass~um carbonate. We'have the formul~; anyone ~

r

remember the formula?" / (An i'naudible reply was giveri ~y one of the stud~nts)._·

<c. 1/

. ~

Teacher: "Now, it is K2CO~. W&have another ca(bonate . which behaves like potassium carbonàte. That

\' one is sodium carbonate. Now, these two . carbonates do not"decompose easily. 50, one 'c·an say tha t sorne carbonates decompose,

, "

• 1 -. ,:, ... , .

--

'T:.

" ..

.. C~

, Do,

- ,

,

, .

.' 1 others don't decompose. Now, you will find 'that metals can be arranged in order of of reactivity. Carbonates, metals of which 'f

are very reactive are not easy ~o decompo~e, ---'hile the carbonates of those metals which

are very low -in t~e electrochemica1 series, they' can decompose v~ry easily:' " , " .

. Now, 'in f~ct we are discu~sing tJ!ese earboQates and then 1 give'you some ' carbonates to heat. If you got a carbonate .like copper ca~boriate, ••• ,Anyone ~ho can giv~ us the fOt'mulél" of copper :caroonate?", , . . \

-~ ,5~ydent: "CuC0 3 ft

" Teacher: "Good. 'Now, if thîs carbonate i~ heated, what will be the products? Now, if you ~eat a sample of copper carbona te .• ,. (and one should remember about the'

<' ,

"

salts of copper: they are a1l colo~red) ~ow'j~ this copper carbJnate is he~ted, we get a gas, and this gas we can iest it using one of our'solutions, that is 1imewate,r. 'Which' gas i,s given out afte,r copper f,arbonate is .heated?",

Student: "Carbon dioxide".

Teache'r: "Carbon dioxide •. Now, if th/is copp~r .. carbonate ié heated, it decomgoses. Now~ what do you think wil'l be the residue? Now, we are heating copper carbonate, what is the name of the residue?" ,

S'tudents: "Copper oxide".

,-

T'eacher: "'Yes t copper oxide .•

l '

oxide. The residue the produ~t will 'be

5tudènts: "Carbon dioxide".

l.

The residue is copper is ~copper oxide. 50 copper oxi?e ~d ••• ?"

, ,

112

(,

" ..

-,

After writing'thePequation showing the effect of heat on

,

copper carQonate, the teacher went through several' othèr .. 1 .. "'\.. -io ." ••

'reactions with the class and eventùal:J,.y-, asked 't~em to split , . .

into groups to carry out the experimel1~s involving the heating

of a numbeor of carb,ona tes. , l{

They were to heat each carbonate in

a tes~ tube and test for carbon dioxide using limewater '(which ,

.. ., ,

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113

would turn milky if this gas was produced) and also t'o describe

the colour of the residue. The teacher personally distributed

the carbon,ates (probably to avoid wast~ He ,did not h~ve.

adeq,uate time to v}'sit various 'groups to give them, necessary'

help. He managed to briefly vis~t four of the seven groups. ,

The teacher reported during an interview after the l~sson

that he was, as usual, going,to give the students sorne notes

during the nê~t lesson as ~ Summary of ,the results they should

,have o~tained ~s they did not have enough time to eXP7r.ïment

with al~ of the se ven carbonates provided. Most of the groups '" '

were able to experiment with two carbonates each~ This

militates against good performance in the KCE examinations <

wpere much emphasls is placed ,on a combinat ion ,of theoretical

knowledge' and practiéal laboratory'experience. A student would , ,

~ find it relatively easy to answer to the following question o~

carbonates if he had done the experiment on hea~ing a varieiY' ,

of these substances. The q\lest:-ion i s ta ken f rom. the, '1984 Kenya -- ,

...

National Examinations 'Council's Physical Science (Chemistr7)

Paper 2.-\

, ,

~ome solid calèium carbo~~te is strongly heat~d ln a test-tube. The res~ue is allowed to cool and solid ammonium carbonate added. When this mixture is warmed gently, the gas produced would '

, , >

A. turn red litmus to blue'

B. t1Jrn limewater milky ~ ,

c. "blëach red, litmus paper - •

.' D. turn blue litmus' to red ' '"

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114

As.mentioned pr~viouslYI most of' the 1esso~s in the . . - , '

" Harambee. 'schotrls wère characterise-d by 'teacher talk usiog thè . , ',dl~lkbôa'rd a~ the main teac~ing aid. Students in these schools

"

..

, . tenQed' not t~ ask any guestions. On the c6ntrary~ students in

tne other two types of schools,.especially extra-provincial,

'. were mprë inquisi~ive in class and often ask,ed pertinent

'questi'ons. in one' class for examp1e, a teacher was teach'ing ,

about t.he sens~ . of hearing; on mentionîng importànce the . . of .t,he , '

w~x in our ears in the trappihg of ·dust., etc. one st.udent . ,

as'ked: . "DOes i t "'ther~ fore mean that we should not wash our

·earf3?" The teacher -expl'a ined that we S-Mould ~a sh our ears pnd

when there is too much wax we should remove some of it but

,without usin~ ,sharp :obje~.t~ that m-ay damage the eardrum. On , fJ, "

the importance of' the pinna in tràppi.ng sound waves another

student asked: "If somebody's pinna is eut off, will the sense

of hearing be reduced?" The teacher's approach to answering -

this questïon involv~d. fi~t a~k~ng Jhe r~st o~ the cl~ss to ' , ,

attempt an answêr. After a brief d!scussion the class was able .

to realize that there 'was a possibi~i~y of sorne repuction i~

hearing bu.t that it wÇ>uld Qot be as great' aS would be in the

case of an elephant or any other mammal~pa~ relies,heavily on

its pinna to trap sound waves. '.

The encouragement of student questions and responses is

one important way to improve cla~sroom teaching and learning

(Wagnet, 1983, p. 23). , Furt~er, s~ùdents who ask questions

1

such as the ones just presented develop ~ritical' t~inking 1 • •

abilities which are essentia~ in d~ing weIl in SOrne KCÈ science ,

questions. On the other hand, 'students who learn passively

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.wi th 1 imi ted question ing', ar~more li kely to perform less weIl , '

especially when faced with novel situations.-

In general; the teaching in extra-provi~cial and

provinc~a'l schools was more motiv~ting and activity oriel1ted

than iri Harambee schoolS. This' lively s~tuation was enhanced

by a ,relatively good supply of reading materials, laboratory . facilities, and be.tt .. er qualified teachers.

4.4 School tradition and aC6demic achievement j t

" ,

"

One- factor which was_tegarded.by ,a11 school heads and

teac~ers as enhancing inst~uctiorial quality and student

achievement ~in the KCE examinations was school tradition. The 1 •

term, "traditi~n" refers to a cus~omary way of doing things.

,r

/' . Sfhool tradition may be taken to refer to the routine manner of

perf~r~jng in-claés and.out-qf-class pctivities of the school. ~

These aetivities include organizing science di~pl~ys, games, 'f

"

sports, clubs and societies. Not aIL these actlvities are ,

available in each school and teachers show'varying amo,unts of \

"".. '\....

enthusiasm when participating in them. Nevertheless, "clubs, , ,

project work and other science activities,ar~ presumed ~o be of

value i~ lear~ing science" (Hurp, 1~61, p. 226), and are l ,L 1

therefore ~~ impo~tant'part of any ~cience programme. -At both

the extra-provincial and provincial schools classroom teaching - 1

is reinforced through such activities 'as 'participating in • >

, distri~t,-provinciall and national music and drama festiwals,

J and also science,congresses. • Th~ Harambee schools vi~ited

participate in only a few of these activities. In ~articular,

e they 00 nQt participate ln t~e' s~ien~e congress competitio~s.

,-, " .

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, . ! 116,

.. tradition in acadèmic achievement was that if a sqhool had

est,ab1 ished a tradi t ion of exc'ellence in the !tCE ex~minatïons,

both staff ,and stude~ts would be motivated to keep up the ~ood

name of the school especially if this t~aditioh was bac}ted by a .

happy working environment. A major reason why Hàrambee~ schools '). .

dô not establish a good trçditibn of excellence is because,

unlike government maintained secondary schools, Ha~ambee , .

schools are non-residential whi·ch makes it difficult, ror ,the

school admi n i stra t i on and the staf'f. to' establ i sh conta~t wi tg, >

cand get to know the social and academic problems of indi~idual

students. ~ince ~eaching is a human relations profession, a

knowledge 'of students' interests and capabilities is useful to

many teachers, especially thoèe new to the profession, bec~use "" it enables them to relate to their students in,~ays that

improve cl~ssroo~ instructio~ iwagner, 1983, -pp. 22-23). t

"-The extra-provincial schoo1s studied have usual~y been 1

,amonq the top, schools in KCE performance in the entire country.'"

,At these schools, teachers generally felt happy and

unthreatened unlike those in Harambee schools where jo~

securA,ty, especiallY· for the untrained teache'rs" :was a cons'tant .

source of worry. According to one of the Ha~ambee school ,

heads, untca{ne~ teachers rarely stayed beyond two years in his

school. At the e~tra-pro~in~ial ~nd provincial scho~ls

studied, teachers could con~,entra,te on trying 1:,0 maintain or

improve on previous KCE resw~ts. The -ext~a-provincial schools

in particular,', had a reputation to maintain. The need to

~ maint~in'prev~ous standards put pressure on both tea~he~s.and

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students 'to wO'rk hard. No traditi9n of academic excellence had,

'b~en es~ablished at any of the Harambee schools, studied. The

relatively poor results whfch 'the studehts in Harambee sc~ools

obtain each year are a,major sou~ce of discouragement to the

teachers and the school admin i strat ion. Hence 'there i s

comparatively little motivation and pressute on staf~ in these

schoo1s to work towards outstanding KCE results.

Due to the seriousne,ss attached to studies' in " .

extra-provincial and provincial schools, staff and students in

~ these sbhoois are time consciou~ and busi~ess-like. One of the

H.rambee s~hool headmasters who had taught in an

extra-provincial,school remarked that students in t ,

extra-provincial.schoo1s Wknow exa~tly what they are doing,

they do not like wasting time". The who~e atmosphere in these

schoolS (extra-provincial) has a "sensè of mission" in that the

importance of efficîent use of time and effort is greatly

emphasized. A sense o~ mission ii one~of the characteristcs of

effective schools (Evans, 1983, p. 75) whet~by such .

institutions appear determined to achieve their objecfives.

Such'a learning 'environment is a'key to academ~c success (Haas,

198'3, p. 16). Stabler (1969, pp. 105-10.6) obse~ves that in one\

of t~e extra-provincial schools selected for this- reseèrèh,

students are very keen to study for:

" ••• a few minutes only after the bel1 a1l boys arè at work ~n their form rooms'withqut benefit of supervision~ A dut Y prefect,may wa1k occasiona11y past the' windows, .bu~ it is' boy~ themse1ves'who set the no-nonsense tone of evening stu~y.ft

'"

(:

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1

Business-like study behavi9urs "promote .~he ~ttit~de that tim~

is an investment and that the dividend is skill and knowled'ge"

(Haas, \~983, p. 18). Many t 7achers in Harambee schools~f,e~l,

that their students have little concern for their s'tudies. 'A

sci~h~e ~eacher at 0;7 ~f the Harambee sch60ls emp~as~zed that

even'at hhe Form IV level students had to be "pushed" to do , . ,

their assignments •. This situation was not r:eported in th~

ex~ra-provincial or the provincial schools. studied. 0.

'. 4. 5 S umma r y , ' ,

School facilit~és, teacher training, quality of • " 4

instruction, and schopl tradition are ~mong the ~ey fictors , ,

·that promote ac~demic achievement. The av~ila~ility of

~ ~dequate teaching-learning facilities, including t~xtbOOKS,

facilitates suécess in t.he KCE examinatlons_. The Harambee

'" scpools studi'ed were' found wanting in laboratory apd library 1. •

facilities. Furt~er, the quality of instruction was, in . - - ~,

general, lower than that provided by the extra-provincial and

pro'vincial schools -- partIy due to inadéquate facilities, and,

to ~ome exte~t, due to th~ lo~er professional and atademic , ,

. Qualificption of the teacher's. In short, teachers at

extra-provincial .schools were moté qualified, had taught ~ /,

longer,t were mor~ conc~rned with'use of prescribed textbooks,

~et.e be~ter able to prepare students for Pthe KCE examjnations,

'a~d ~$ea more laboratory-based sciènce ,instruction.(which

expose~ students to KCE: type question~) than teachers at "-

pro~incial:and Har~~bee schools.

The,existence ota s~(ong tradition of acade,ic'excellence

, ,

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irf a s~hool was conside.red a~ important factor fnfluencing

student achievement,in that such a tr~dition motivat~s the , 1

staff and stùdents to work hard in .orde'r to maintai,n 0:'. improv~e , ."

upo'n previQus KC& ~xamination résults... The 'Haramhee,"'sch.901s

studied did not have a ,record of'outstanding acàdemic

achievement. The high performa~ce in thk KCE examinations' by

students at the extra-pro~incial and provincial schools was

enh~nced by student participation in ext~a-curricular l

~ctivities, good use of siudy time, and the pr6~ision ~

residential facili}ies •

..

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. CHAPTER FI VE

,VARIATION IN KCE PERFORMANCE BETWEEN THE HARAMBEE,SCHOOLS

At least seventy percent of secondary school students are ./

enrolled in Harambee insitutions (Republic Qf Kenya, 1981b, p. . '-

67). As a result of the 8-4-4 ,system, student enrollment in 1

~ p~imar'y schools wili inerease unless a substantial reduction in

the birth rate' oceurs. The increase in school enrollment will -

necessitate a ~orresponding increase in the number of secondary " ,

schools in an effort to cater for the large numbers of primary

school leavers seeking seeondary education. The elimination of

the Kenya Junior Secondary Examination and the 'A' level stream . ~

will result in an increase in.student enrollment. As previous

exper~ence has ~hown, the proportion of enrollment in Harambee

schools is likely to iricrease'greatly as çompar~d to that of

the'gOvern~ent m~tained secqndary sehools. This will have \

far reaehing implications for recrui t,ment of t~a~hers and the

provisi"on of teaching and learning facilities. Ha~ambee \

schools will find it more di f f ieul t tè hire an adequate number . 1 ,

of quali f ied staff and the present shortage of in.struct ional

resourees will beeome more acutë. This may result in the ~ " . . deter1oratio.n of the already' low level of aeademic performance

in these schools. ~urt~er; since the university educat(on ,

system wi 11 not bè able to ej{ppnd fast en'ough t? admi t aIl

students qualifying tor higher education (mainly due to

insuffieient funds), tecruitment into un·iversity will be more

'selectiDve .than in the pasto ,In brfef,- the edu~ation of

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students in' Harambee secondary schools is likely to become an

objeet of gre~t conce~n to the government and parents. ~

This chapter will first_pompare the performance in KCE

mathematics, biology, and p~ysical. science of student~ in the

two Harambee schools selected for the study and then identify •

possible sources of the variation in achievement between them. r

The availability of textbooks and the qualifications of science

and mathematics teachers are contr~sted.. Sample records of

students' laboratory work at the two schools are also presented

and the quality of students' work evaluated as it relates to

preparation for the KCE'science examina~ions. Data on student

recruitment are analyzed to establish whether or not the two

Harambee schools admitted students with similar academ~c

qualifications •. Finally, school administration (in particular,

the supervision of instruction) is examined in order to

determine which of the two schools appeari to have benefited

more from ~he administrative ieadership of their headmaster •

. 5.1 Achievement in KCE biology, physical science, and

mathema~ics 1

In order to ascertain whether the-two Harambee schools

pe~formed equally ~ell or differently in the KCE science and

mathematics examinations, a chi-square test was performed.

Table XVI on the next page presents a summary of the analyses.

. ,

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122

Table XVI _ • 4 R

.DISTRIBUTION OF 'PASS' AND 'FAIL' KCE GRADE~ IN BIOLOGY, PHYSICAL SCIENCE, AND MATHEMATICS IN TWO HARAMBEE SCHOOLS

~

School 5 School 6 (N-64 ) "" \1 (NIII:79)

"

, " 1 • % % ~ '\

RCE biolo'gy

PASS 17.2 54.4

FAIL 82.8 .... 45.6 -r

Total 100.0 100.0

'.

X2" • 19.3, df • 1, P <0.001

RCE physical sc ience - "

PASS 21.7 57.1

FAIL 78.3 1;:> ,42.9 "

Total 100.0 100.0"

X2 = 5.7, df • l, P <0.05

KCE mathematics,

PASS 14.1 32.9

FAIL 85,.9 67.1 &..

Total 100.0 . 100.0 ;1:' ..

X2 • 5.8, df ...

III: l, P <0.05

.~

tDJ .. Note: For' physica1 science, N·2~ (School 5) and 35 (School 6) •

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123

The distribution.of students who achieved passing and . failing marks in the three courses was significantly different

between the two ~hOOlS. Although 0 the overall achievement in

science and mathèmatics was poor in both schools, students in

S~hool 6 diq signi f icantly bet ter isn aIl three subjects th,an

students' in School 5. Further, the failure rates at the two

schools were different for different subjects. More than

three-quarters of the students in School 5 failed in al1 three

subjects; whereas in School, 6, ~ majority obtained passes in

biology anQ physical science. In b;ology ~nd physical science

the failure rate in School 5 was almost twice"that in School 6,

"0 while in mathematics the failure rate in School 5 was about 1.3

times that in School 6.

. The students' achievement in sc ience aild,tfathematics at

the ·two schools is i'ncÜca'tive of their 'overall performance in

the ~984 KCE examinations: out of 108 KCE candidates in School

p, 5.6% obtained Divisipn II, 29.6% 'Division III, and 37%

Division IV. The number of failures constituted f7.8% of aIl y

candidates in this school. In School 5, 99 candidates took the o ,

KC~ examination and the proportion_of Division II holders was a , '-. "

mere 1%. Similarly, the percentage of students in Schoo1 5

with'Division III (8%) was almost four times lower than that in

Scho.ol 6. While the proportion of Div,ision IV holders in both

,Schools was similar (37% for School 6, and 42% for School' 5),

about ,49% of the stu~nts in School 5 failed as compared to

about 28% of the students in School 6. No students'at either

school obtained Division 1. ~=-

(For further Qetails'of the RC!

student per,formance at these two schools see Appendix 1).

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. 124 .' o

In 6rder to estab1ish whet~er "th~ mean scores in·biology, '" . ~

physicai ~clence, and mathematics for stu~ents in provinéia1 .. , 0 ?

and Harambee schpols wer~. significantly different, a orle-way , . -

a'na'1ysia.:of 'Variance (ANOVA) was performed. Tab'le XVII be10w . . reports the results of the analysis.

,-

Table XVII • • It

RESULTS OF A ONE-WAY ANOVA OF MEAN SCORES IN KCEoBIOLOGY, P~YSICAL SCIENCE, AND MATHEMATICS FOR STUDENTS IN TWO HARAMBEE SCHOOLS

" , ,

o

'. ,School "5 School ~ /" .

(N-64) (N=79) . LI ,0

l

. , .. QDifference in means ' ,.

KCE paperl 1>-

Biology .: 8.67 7 .. 60*** 1.07 - -Physical science 8.61· 7.89* 0.72

Mathematics 8.75 8.3?* 0,.43

, . * P <0.05; *** P <0.001"

f"-1

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Note: 8, \ b.

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higher scores dndicate lower rankinw for physical -science, ~.23 '(.Schoo1 5) and '35 (School 6). '

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125

The data presented above show that the 1argest difference

in student performance was in biology (1.07), whi1e the

sma11est 'was in mathematics (0'.43)-- implying that the ft

variation was greatest where laboratory-based. learning was

involved. This suggests that stuàents in School 6 may have v

, received bette'r preparation in 1aboratory work than those in

School 5.

5.2 Forro 1 intake

1 n Kenya, 0 the fi rst year of secondary educat ion i s' known •

as "Forro 1". In general, Schoo1 6 had over the years recruited

students who did better academically than School 5. For

example, Form i students admitted into School 6 from 1981 to

198"4 had a minimum of 17 (1981), 18 (1982), 17 (1983), and 19'

(1984) CPE points, whi1e School 5 admitted students with a

corresponding min imum of 15," 14, 15, .13, ~nd 15 poi nts )

respectively. However, a one-way ana1ysis of variance showed

that the mean (20.64) of the CPE scores of the 1984 Form IV

students in School 5 was not statistica11y different from the

mean (21.69) of the CPE s~ores of the correspoRding Form IV

students in School 6 (p> O.05~. Achievement in ~e .CPE

"examination was not, in other words, a significant indication

of variation in student performance in the KCE science and

mathematics examinations for students at the two Harambee

schools.

"

5.3 Textbook availability and academiç achievement

The distr ibut ion of "textbooks 1'0 the two Hiirambee schools , ' ...-- 1

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shows that School,6 had few~r p~pils per textbook than' School ,. . -'

5. This information is contained in Table XVIII below.

- 1

Table XVII l . ,

VARIATION IN TEXTBOOK AVAILABILITY BETWEEN TWO HARAMBEE SCHOOLS

1 •

1. -Types of Ref. ànd' -

~upils' bookS:

Mathematic

Biology

Chemistry

Physics

2. No •. of pupi1s '

pero textbook:'

'Mathematics'

,Bio'logy

Chemistry ~

physics . ,

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. }

School 5

2

3 1 ....

. 2

2

3

6

7

4 ..

~ c.

- ,(

School 6

1 •

'.

• , ,

5

6 ,

" 3 ( -

3

,-. " , ,

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2

2

4

3

('

- ' - ~ There was a grèater variety of textbooks in Sèhool 6 than

in School 5 for aIl subjects. The variety was greatest for • 1,

bio1ogy anç mathematics. This m~ans that in 1984, students in )

School ·6 had more books available for reference than students

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in School 5. Further, there" were fewer pupils' per textbook in • .

Sc~ool 6 ihan School 5. For example~ at Scnool 5, th~re were ' o

, , tpree times as many st~derits per biology textbook'and almost

u

twice as many using each chemistry textbook than at School 6. ol

• 5.4 Teacher gualifications, KCE markin9c and classroom

teachins

9 None of the five science{mathematics t~achers in School 5,

had received'professional training at universiiy level. AIso, /

4 of the 5 teachers in this ,school had attained only a Form IV

-level of education.--the same level they were ~ow teaching, On , \

the other hand, one of the two teachers in School 6 had

received.a Bachelors deg,ree i,n physics and- mathem?ltics' and was

pr~fessionally trained to teach these subjects at secondary Q

school level. He taught both of these subjects to Form IV "

studen ts ~n addi t ion to student s a t ot~er~ level s. Hi s

cqlleague, who had received~formal education up to Form VI, 1

taught ch,emi stry to the Form IV students' as weIl as to other

classes.

Marking examinatl~ns enables a teacher to learn more ~bout ~

the requirements of the examiner. Hopefully, with this

knowledge, the teacher would prepare' students for' KCE . .

examinations with the pertinent requirements in mind. , The 1

, ,

physics/mathematics teacher at School 6 had two yea~s of

experience in marking KCE physics and a year's experience of

marking mathematics at the ~ame level. In School 5, there was

also one teacher with a year's marking experience in KCE

mathematiés.

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-, From classroom observations at the two schools it appe~red, , .

., that students in Sphool 6, may have received.4

better quali ty . , ,

instruc.tion than' those in SchO'ol 5.~ For .example, in a lesson , , ' .

on 'the properties of·a circle tàught by the phy~ics-mat~s

teacher in School 6, the students leê:trned about these , f ,:'

prbpe!ties by ~king, a series of constructions under the'

guidance of the' teacher. The teacher not only gave

instructions on how'to make the constructions but ~lso visited

'studer:tts-- to see how they were progressing. After allowing , .

ample time for drawing, seve~al students we~e'~sked to read out

their 'findin'gs 'to the rest of tbe class for çOlnpariso~ a'nd'

comment. Sub,sequently, conclusions were draw~ from the results

obtained by the stud:ent~. In" School 5, a .lesson on matrices,

,tho~gh weIl introduced by the teacher, did'not provide'stud~nts

with an oppo~nit~y to solve problems ,by themselves. Instead,

a number of èxamples were read out from a textbook by the .. teacher and 'done' orally. This did not give the teacher an

opportuni~y' to fiad out how weIl the stud~nts had understood

the iesson and therefore the teacher could not'give,any t ~

necessary remedial àssistance eîther durin~ or immediately

after the lesson.

. " , 5.4.1 Sample records of 'Stuéle'nts' labotat'ory work

l '

Due to insufficient laboratory apparat~s and chemicals, ... 1 /

teachers in Harambee schools cannot organise olass practicals ' (,

as often as they would prefere Only one laboratory lesson was

observed and recorded 'from each of the two Harambee schools 1

studied. From these two lessons i t appears that students in

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School 6 were better prepared for the KCE format of science . practical examinations tha~ School 5~ The sample 1aboratory

records made"by students at the.twa1Haramb~e schools' are . . reproduced below. .. '

.,

... A.SAMPLE OF STÜDENT LABORATORY RECORDS FROM SCHO~L ·5.

Sfudent

- ;1.

TOPIC: CARBONÀTES

1: The lime water c~anges'~rom~water1y to miiky.,

The residue changes to whi t i sh. ' \ , b

Student 2-: ':fhe bel)aviour of 'p,otassium carbonate when

expose,d to heat i t, decomposed.

CO 2 was rel~ased as a gas and KO is 1eft , - -

as a residue.

129

, '

St\1.dent

Student

.~tuden'~

Test of CO 2 : It turned water to 'milky the ,

cofo.ur of residue is brownish. : ----0 . '.

3: Magnesium carbonate - wHite - white (J

4:

5:

The colour of 1

MgC0 3 befQre heating- was white

and after the experiment therè occurred no

change in colour. T

Copper carbonate - when heàted it c,hange

. limewater to milky. The copper carbonate

did not cha~ge.

the

/

In th~ KCE physièal science practical paper, candidates

1

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are frequently asked to qarry out experiment~ ~nd record their , ,

observations in a format under sp~eific subheadings. For

1'xample', the ehemi stry praet ieal part of the' phy.si.c:al sc iè,nce

e~aminaiion fO~'l984 con~ist~~ ol one main qu~s~ion'with'

sever~l S~b'-qUeS~ iO'~'S. !rhe, can~ida~es we~e asked t~ wr i te (

'their answers on the question p'ape'rs in the spaces provided. . \"\, . These spaces eonsisted, of three colum'ns -- one jor "Te~t" ;-,

another Gne for "Observations", ~nd a third one for • - ~ 1

"Deductions". The students were to .record <their observations

and deductions in the SPace provided,against each test. , .

In the above lesson, students we~e required:to heat a .

, . number Qf carbonat~s and to identify the substances produced •

. .

~

The instructions for the e*periments L -were given,verbally by the \

"teacher. No meth6d for'recording information was presc~ibed.

'The students decided for themselves how to record observatfon'S.

These students were nof,familiarized 'with th-e styl~ and

procedure common to the KCE science practieal examinations'

noted above.

In ,comparison,' KéE c~nd·idates in School 6 appear to have

" be~n bet ter prepared for sc ience praet ic~ls as the sample

student records on the next page illustrate. The laboratory ,

activities involved the testing of the effect .of enzym~s on a

number pf food substance~ (~ubstrates).

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" , AI ~AMPLE OF "STUDENT i.ÀBORA,TORY, REGORDS FROM 'SCHOOL 9 . ~ .

Student 1,:

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Student 2:

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Student 3:

TlME

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25

3D

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" TOPIC: ENZ.YMES:

OBS,ERVATION Â

Colour remain yéllow

due to iodine

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Reddish orangé,

No cha:nge , ,

No change

No change

No change

No change • A •

No change

No change J •

No change

No change ,

Turns yellow (light)

15 Turns brown

20 Turns black

• -2?- Turns black '-

~o Turns black

/

OBSERYAT10N B

Co1our r,erna in

ye1low due to

iodine

Reddisl'l' orange·

NO change

. No change

TurRS light

ye110w

Turns brown ---

Brown ,

Blue black

Blue black

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ln this lesson,the tea€her had writben all,the {t

instructions on the chalkboard incl~ding the format for

132

recording the observations. This was a help to 'the students in

their pfeparation for questions they were likely to encount"r ,

• •• î ln KCE examlnatlons. The 1984 KCE ~iology practical

examination, for example~ was made up of three questions. -~ne

"question asked the candid~tes to make a li~t of similariti~s ~ ,

- and di fferences between two ?pecimens "observed wi th the hèlp of

microscopes. Two columns, one for each specimen were provided. 1 \ .

Another question asked the candidates to use a hand xen~ to

observe and" describe the" struct'ure and funct,io~ of à given

spec.~en and record this information in two columns' (one for

"structur-e" and the other for "function"). The last q.u~stion

required ihe candidates to identify two solutions by carrying

out certain food tests· and report their findings under't~~'

following sub-headings: "Test for", "Solution", "Trea~~ent",

"Observation", and "Conclusion".

5.5 School 'administration and supervision of instruction

The headmaster of School 5 reported that one of the

reasons why his students do not do weIl in 'KeE 'examinations is

because they do not report to him when a teacher fails to turn

~p in class. Instead the students conceal ~he absence-of the

instructor. According to him "sorne teachers fail to come to

school for no good reason". A cas~ in point was one sciepce , .

teacher who had not shown up in school for 3 months. This

teacher was eventually replacèd. In School 6 no chronic

absenteeism was not~/e

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At School 6, students a~e pr?mpt to report to the

headma~ter ~henever a teacher is either absent from class or ' 1) "

does not teach well. On receiving such information the·

heàdmaster takes immediate action. The headmaster cited an

ins~ance when students complained about a teacher who they,felt

cO,uld not teach them well ,enough t.o pass the national

examinations. The headmaster then went to evaluate the teacher

in the classroom. He found the students' ~omplaints to be

valid and the teacher was subsequently replaced.

The close ~upervisio~ of.instruction by the headmaster of

School 6 was attested to by one ex-Form IV student of that

school who had come to check his 1984 KCE results. Wheïn

interviewed as to what enabled him get a Division II, he "

attributed his success to encouragement from his family

members, hard work, and the unrélenting monitoring of the

teaçhing staff by the headmaster who ~nsured that the teachers , "-

went to class as required. Moreover, the headmaster of this ,

school personal~y assists-the teach~rs in the preparation ~f

schemes of wor'k and less",n ~lans., He also reported tha t he ~ , ,

treque~tly advises untrained teacher~ r~garding the handling of

di f f icul t tepcher'-pupi 1 c lassr:oom encounter.s,_ Sud'h aid to the

beginning 'teacher is indicative of an effeci~ive sc~ool a

heaâmaster (Look and Manatt, 1984, p. 78) who thereby mak~s a ,

positive contribution to the l~arning environment.

Perhaps one reason the headmaster in this school stressed

goed teaching was due to his prior 3-year teaching experience

at All.iance High -School, considered one of the top schools in

Kenya. He had more administrative experie~ce at School 6 (five

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~ears) then 'the h~~dmaster of Sbhool 5 who had not tet 1 ri

comple.ted hi'S', third year.

The 1984 KeE examination,r~~ults of School 6, which were

the,best since the schoo1 1 s inception 'seventeen years ea~lier,

i ndiea ted tha t the headmaster' s ef forts '5 Ince tak-i-ng the_ .-,

position in 1980_ were beginning to achieve, the desired "results.' ' ~

Thei showed- that about 72% of the candidates had passed as

compared to previous years in which no more than 50% had

achieved similar success. Thu~, school administration and ,

supervision of instruction may have contrib~ted'bo the '--

differences in performance between the two Harambee schools.'

5.6 'Summary

.~ In general, Harambee school students are. ill-prepa~ed to

a

'l,

face the KeE examinatiéns. Theïr school labor~tories are

'- ~

poorly'equipped, their supply of textbeoks is Inadequate, and ......

most of their teachers are not' Pn>fessionally'qualified to , ~

provide qua,l i ty ,instruction in -sc ience and mathematics.

Nevertheless, sorne students are better prepared for the KeE , '(')

examinations than others. Of the' two Harambee schools studièd,

stud~nts in ~hoOl 6 obtained bet,ter resu,lts in the KCE sci~nce

a~d mathematics examinations than those who attended School 5. -o

The d~fference in their scores was greater in science subjects . '

than in mathematics. S~n'Ce there· was no significant variation -

,in CPE scores of students attending the t~o Harambee

institutions, entry into high school on the basis of these -

scores does not seemingly.' explain ,the variation in achievement

'in ,the KeE examinatioQs. Differences ip _te~tbo~k supply may

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\ . have contrlbuted to the difference ,in ,student performance in

\

favoû'r of SC~91 6 which had a wider variety of textbooks and

fewer student~ per textbook than School 5.

Other 'factors that may have.'enabled students in Schoo1 6

to perfoim better in 'the 1984 RCE science and mathematfcs

examinations than studènts in School 5 include higher teacher

qualifications, more éxamination-influenced c1assroom

instruction., and better school administration.

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CHAPTER SIX

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This section summarizes the f indings" of the previous

·chapters. It also presents a number of reco~endations for

improving, the quality of instruction at the secondary school

leve1 with special attention to Harambee scho01s.

6.1 Changes in Kenya's educational system

The comi,ng of Europ,ean missionaries to Kenya during the .

hineteenth century signa11ed the introduction of a western,

formaI education. As t,heir il1Îtial purpose was to spread

Christianity, literacy was seen as ~n essentia1 too~ for

evangelization.· However, when the colonial government

136

established'an eaucation department in 1911, .nit had no plans .' , for African education" (Smith, 1973, p. 9). As more and more

Africans received formaI education both 10cal1y and overseas,

the demând for more schools increased. Eventually through both

armed strugg1e and p01itical pressure, the country became free

of colonial rule a,nd gained "'independence in 1963.' v '

Soon after independence, Kenya s~t up a commission to

formu1ate an educationa1 policy for the country. The

commission, known as the Kenya Education Commission, started p

work in December, 1963 and issued a report within twelve months po

(J •

(Republic of Keny~, 1964).' The report, popularly known as the

"Ominde Report" after its chairman, Professor Ominde,

emphasised the ·need for the educational system to foster

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national unit y, promote respect for religious and cu)tural

traditions of aIl peoples, and foster national development and .

social welfare among aIl Kenyans. Other commissions have since

been' estab~ished ~o review and update educational programmes

and policies (Republic of Ken~, 1984a, p. y). The most recent ,

commission wa~ ~97 Working Party on the Second University " (1981) 'which recommended, ,all!0ng other things, the establ i shment

of an 8-4~4 system of education i~ which primary schooling

would last for, eight ye~.s': se~ondary educat ion four years, and

a minimum of four years for a Bachelors degree.

6.1.1 Kenya National Examinations

Formal~ education in Kenya, as in many other developing r

countries, is very competitive beginning at the primary' school

level. To qua1ify for entry into secondar~ schoo1s~ pupils . '- ,

have' t'Q sit for natïona1 examinations, and only a third of, the

pupils are selected. At independence, ,the, select ion .~ ,

'J

examination was the Kenya Preliminary Examination (RPE) which p

was replaced by the 'Certificate 'of pr,imary Educatlon (CPE}"'fol,Jr • 1

years later. Fo11owing th~ introdyction of the 8-4-4 system of

education in 1984, the CPE was rep1aced by another competitive

examination known as th~ Kenya Certificate of Primary gducation

(KePE). Starting in 1985, this examination tested candidates

in six new subjects in addition to those included in the former "< ~

examination.

Before the introduction of the 8-4-4 educational system,

two main academic programmes were offered at, the secondary

school level, name!y, the '0' level and the 'A' level

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curricul'a. Although detailed programmes varied' from one school: ~ ~

to another, aIl schoo1s were directed t6 offer ~athematics and 1/,

at least ohe science subject at the 'Q' level. This course of

study culminateo~in ~ national examination known since the -6 , ' .

~970s as the Kenya Certi~icat~ of Education' (KeE). The KCE was

taken at the end of four years of secondary.schooling and \

served to select students for a two year 'A' level programme. ". <~ •

At the end of this course students wrot~ the Kenya Adv~ncea . ..

Certificate of Education (KAGE) examination. The·KCE aqd KACE

,'will cont inue to be set until they are· phased out in accordance ~ ,

wi th tl}è pre.s~nt 8-4-4 ,~:>laf1.

The pr~sent 'study. 'was undertaken among stùde~ts registered

for the pre 8-4-4 currièula in three of the four types of'

secondary schools in Kel!ya: ext ra-prQvillc ial, p'r<;winc ia11 ~nd \

Harambee. In general, extra-pr9vincial schools r~cruit the

best students from across Kenya and 'provincial schools aCmit q

the best of the remaining studehts from their respective j .

" . -,-provlnces. Both kinds of schools are government maintained • . ,

...

Harambee ins~i~utions recruit most of f)heir students from their .. '. local communities. ~Preference is given to the children of

, these,communities which finance, huild, and manage, the schools.

Consequent~y, recruitment into Harambee schools is not as . .

selective as in.Bxtra-provincial,and provincial school~. In

fact,_ most of the students who are admitted into 'Harambee

schools are those who fail to galn entry into the 9~v~rnment

. insti~utions. It is no~ surprising'therefo~e, that students in o .. 1.

Harambee secondary schools repeatedly~obtain poorer results in

the national exam~nations than th6se attending the other two

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kinds of institutions. " , 1 ,~

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. 6.2 Summar,X of findings

, 1

~:2.1 Data collection,and a~alysis.' ~

. This sty~ attemptèd to identify sources of the

differences~ academic acnievemen~ among students ih various

types of secdndary $chools~ »ata were collected from si~

secondary institutions two of which were extra-provirici~l~ two ....

provincial, and two Harambee. Th~ schools were ail located in .

the Kiambu di strict of ,Central Province. Among th'e' , .1'

,

extra-p~ovincial and provincial schools st~die~ ~ere a boys'

and ~ 9i rIs' school. ' The Harambee schools were co-educat ional. ,

Questionnaires, interviews, and classroom observations were , .

used to gather data. Information was obtained concerning the

influence of the level of secondary school ,entry quali fica,tions

(CPE examination results), parental level'of education 'and ' '-

occupation, school facilities, and teacher academic ~

qualifications and professinal experience on achievement i~ the'

.. KCE science and mathematlcs examinations.

The thr~e ~ypes of schools admitted students with

significantly diff~~ent secondary school entry- qU,alifications 1 •

and whose social background varied greatly in terms of parental ~ , If. , 1

levels of education and occupation. Students with the best CPE

scores and from better educated and wèaltnier families were the

most likely to enter the extra-provinciai ~chools. ~T~i~ is

partly because selection into secondary schools wes (and still . . i5) based on academic achievement at the primary school level,

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, ~nd p~rtly because educat~onally 'ill-informed parents wi thout 1) ~ •

1 fina~cial reso~rces, c~nrot afford to .buy an adequate " .. supply of

appropriate textbo~ks and pay for extra tutorials for their

children in preparation for the CPE examination. Thus, the c:- ;~ t f '

si~dents who will continue ~o benefit most from education will' ,

be

" ••. those with previously advantaged parents who are able to provide firs~ the kind of home background and then the kind of school which enables the child to take. the most advantage of' the present selection procedures." (Court and Ghai, 1974, .p. 18)

\ ,

Tnis m~y pa~tially explain wh] students admitted to

extra-provincial schools generally do weIl in the national \ ,

f

examinatiohs each year. Student ~chievement in the KCE science

and mathèmatics examinations was significantly different across

the three types of schools. Students attending '?

extra-provincial schools had the best results followed by those

at provincial schools. The extra-provincial schools studied

were better equipped than t~e other two types of sch~ols, the

Harambee schools having the least supply of teaching and

learnin~ materials.

For the purpose of this study;.p~r~ntal education and-. occupation served as the descriptors of' social backg,round.

1 •

, ,Parentaf education and ~ccupation were regres~ed on CPE and KCE

student perfo~~ance 'oto assess th,eir respeotive' relationship to . .

academic achieyement. It was ~ound that at both the primary

and secondary levels of schodling, parental education was a

significant predictor of'achievement in the CPE and.KCE

examination!r.' J •

Both fathers' and, mothers', occupat ional status \

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,were predictors of achievement ·in the CPE, but on1y mot'hers' ,

( ".> occupation influenced success in the KCE.examination. Fathers '

~..-~Cî

(? ' ~ducation ,was strongly re1ated to achievement ._~.-_-?',,= --' '\ '. -,'

in the CPE for

---

students attending extra-provjncial schools. , , Since parental ~. '- t

education'was hlghly correlated with parental occupation, this ..

has important implications,~oth for the type of secondary

'scpoo1 a child is admitted into and his or her su~sequent

academic achievement, as discussed above. Thus, parental " .

education ~nd occupatio~ appear to hav~ been important

contributor·s to suc,cess in ·the CPE examination. Good cPE ,

resuYts, in furn, play a· major role in determining which typ~ '.

~f' secon?ary ,school a chi Id i s admi t t~d into' since select io-n

for seco~dary educa~ion i~ based solely ori CPE performance.

~ p~?blem with the CP~-KCE analyses undertaken here was

the relatively poor performance of the Harambee school students

in the CPE examination., This made it impossibte .. to control for

the CPE results across the three types of schools in order to ,

assess more accurat~y_-the relative contribution of the CPE

examination to student succ~ss in the KÇE examination. Also

the CPE ~rade: provided did not show separa~e scores .for

science. Fortunately, however, in awarding the KCPE

certificates, science scores are combined with scores in , 1

agriculture instead of with scores in geography, history, and , \

'" civics as was done with CPE. This will make t,he assessment of

the relationship' betweén primary and secondary science. /

examination scores more accurate beaause science is more

related to agriculture than it is related to ~he above , ..

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mentioned social science subjects. Despite the switch from CPE 'I

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to KCPE in~1984, it will ,still be- difficult to 1 impr'ove the

quality of Form l intake into Harambee school? if the present , '

system ~~ selection for secondary education is maintained.

Consequently, it will continue to be difficult te match stude~t " ... ,

samples f rom extra-.f.>rov inc ialf, provinc ial, and Harambee sclioois

on the basis ,Qf entry qualifications.

) The contribution of scheo~ and teacher characteristics on .. ,

stUdent achievement in sci~nce and mathematics was studied. / ,

"-

This ihcluded the availability of adequate teaching and

learning materials such as science laboratory equipment and -

other essential laboratpry,materials and textbooks. ether , ,

factor's studied included teaching 'con~ide,ratiéns:' lesson ~ ~

prepa~ati~p, teaching methods, teacher qUplifications, and . . ~

~eaching experience., ' v,

All scheols had science laboratories. The ,

exç~a-provin~ial scheols and one of the provincial schools had

separate, laboratories for bielogy, chemlstr'y 1 and physics •. The ,

other provincial school had one for hiology and a second for

physiCal science. ~ Both Harambee schools had one laboratory for ~

all three science subjects.

Due to the poerly equipped Harambee schoel 1aboratories, •

teachers there used either lecture or demonstratien teaching

metpods. most, of the 't ime. Students were thus exposed to a ,

limited number ofclaboratory practicals despite the fact that

such experiences are vital te success in the.KCE science

examinations. In contrast, students in both the

.extra-provincial and provincial schools had sufficient

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facilities to carry ~ut many e~perim~nts. Further, the~ had,

relatively more 'textbooks, better quali'fied and' more . .

experi~nced teachers, and,on tha whole, received better quality (

of instruction than those in Hafambee s~pools. In addition,

stu'dents in both extra-provinc,ial and provincial schools

enriched their learning by participating in provincial and

nat-ional science congresses" and ln school science clubs and

displays. None of the Harambee school students sur~eyed

en~aged in these ~ctivities.

Harambee secondary schools are of special impprtance in

that·et least 70% of secondary' school students in Kenya attend

them. Consequently, the two sèhoo!s involved- in thi s study 1

were comparep. It was'found that they differed with respect to . ,

thè results of their students in the KCE examination •. They

also di ffered in terms of the number and variety of textbooks,

the qualification of tea~hers, the use of laboratories for ,

instruction, ,and the extent, of instructional supervisi,on by the

headmaster. The students in School 6 did significantly better

in 'KCE sc ience and ma thema tic s than those in School 5. The

d~fferences in student achievement in science were greater than

that in mathematics suggesting that academic achievement was " greater in laboratory-based,subjects than in mathematics.

\ ,

Teacher qualifications and textbook supply were considered to

be among the key sources of variation in student performance

, between the two Har~mbee schools.

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6.3 Improvement of instruction a~d academic achievement .'

in Kenya's secondary schoo1s. '. .

,The Kenya, Government spends about one-third of ~ts annual

budget on education. There is ~ ~imit as to how much ~ore the ,

goverQment c~n shoulder'the responsibi1ity of, educating its'

c,itizens. Assuming that the country's economic situation

continues,to improve, the government can "be expected to 1

continue to provide increaped assistance in the form of grants

to meet the needs 9f primary, secondary, aDd post-secondary . . (

institutions. Butoeven large increases in expenditures may'not

cope with the projections for expansion of the eâucational •

system especially at-the secondary level as a result of the

implementat ion of t,he' 8:4:4 innovat ion. Consequently, Kenyans

will have to rely heavi1y on their "Harambee" spirit to finance

education (The Kenya Tim~~, 1986, p. 20).

A large number of Harambee schools will'have to be built

to accommodate the increasing number of primary ~chool'léavers

who will want to continue their education'since only a small

number of extra-p~oyincial a~d provincial schools can be

established anp maintained by the government. One can also

expect an increase in the number of private schools. The ,

. government should ensure that the eipansibn of Harambee and

private institutitons does not produce.a deterioration of ~

academic ~tandards due to an overstretching of available human,

physical, and financial resources.

One way te maintain high academic standards is for the . \--:;~ ~ ~

In'spectorate Division of' the Ministry of Education, Science and

Technology tO,employ more stringent measures of qualifying a

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• f. seh~o1 to o(1er ce~tain subjeets to t~5 studen~s. This is

particular~y important for (ience courses where the _,

availability of basic teaehing a~d learning materials ineludin~

textbooks and laboratory equipment is'cruc~al for'acad~mic

succesS. It ~s,of ~aramount impdrtance that aIl sec~ndary

schoo1s intending to PFovide scf~hce'subjeets ensure that they

haye an adequate supply of basie instructional facilities and

materials before offering t~em to their ,students. 1

A major goal of the 8-4-4 system is to train youth to

partieipate effectively in,national development (Republic of

Kenya, 1984a, p. 1). The p~ovision of qual~ty education is

essential if this objective is t'o pe achieved. Yet a large

number of the c\')in'Ï1unities 'that est.ablish Harall1bee sehools are ,

too poor to finance quality eduoation (Keller, 1975, p. 5).

In order to improve student achievement in Harambee '

sehools, the government eould raise toe entry qualifications " for aeeepting-students into these schools.' Unfortunately, this

is eontrary to the Harambee spirit present among the local

eommuni ties and consequent1y; other a'l ternat i:ves may have to be 1

explored •

There are several other means by which the government can

. he1p ~mprove ·the quality of educatjon at Harambee secondary , "

. sehoo1s~ One way is to prov,ide grants fo'r the purchB;se of

equipment and other resourees especially for science teaching.

This woül~ partially tulfill one of the ai~s,of the 8-4-4 .. \ .1' •

system regarding equitable allocation of financial resourees • al

aeross institutions.at the secondary school level (Republie of

Kenya, 1984a, p. 1). Some of the funds could be realised by , .

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'r~ducin9 th~ goyernment subsidies for extra-provincial and

provinclal schools and reallocate them to Harambee schools

which would be justified on the grounds of equity

(Jn~ernational Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1985, ( 1

p. 125)~

The government cou1d also assign more trained teachers ,to

Harambee schools.' This may necessitate finding ways of

retaining graduate teachers in the profession" s-ince many of /

them us~ this career as a stepping stone for better paying

occupations elsewhere, usually in 'the private sector. A third ,

method by which the government coul~ assist the Harambee . ,

"schools is through awarding butsarïes to pupils fr9m poor ..

fami1ies who do weIl in the KCPE examination.

Another major step in improving the quality of education

would be to provide Harambee schools with suitably trained

administrators who could innovatively implement the èurr-ic'u).um

tHurst, 1981, p. 193) and maintain instructional integrity.'

yhe Insp~ctorate Division should. institutibn~lize an in-service ...

programme to update the administrative skills of headmasters .)

and headmistresses particul~~ly those in charge ,of Harambee

"\ schools. ii (

At present there are no established policies for the

recruitment, selection, training, and retenti~n of secondary

school heads in Kenya (Mutunga, 1978,cp. 1238A). These shou1d

.be formally introduced and university qualifications and a ,

minimum of about five years of secondary school teaching

exp.erience made a r,equirement for. ~he posi tion of headmaster.

Once appointed, the school he~d should be al1owed' to remain at

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a given school for a reasonable number of years (sayat least

four or five) in order to establish good working relationships

with staff and other members of the achpol community. In

addition, school heads should receive in-service training on

the proper

methods of

mana?~ment of financ~resources anq on appropriate

supervising and evaluating instruction. The ability

to a~alyse teaching activities and programmes i5 crucial to

instructional improvement (Seifert and Beck, 1984, p. 32).

Such instructional leadership is an-important characteristic of

an effective school (Huddle, 1984, p. 63).

In-service courses shou1d also be made compulsory for

teachers. Thompson and Cooley (1984, p. 1) emphasize that "the

bot tom line is that. if student achievement i 5 to be improved . ~

teachers must have inservice training". Only six of the thirty

three teachers surveyed had had a~ in-service course in the

subjects they were teaching. The du~ation of these courses was

" less than one w,eek and al,l had been taken before 1981. None' of

them was concerned with the teaching of mathematics. Th~, there is a need to provide teachers, particularly lesser

l\.

qualified Harambee school teachers, with an opportunity to

update their knowledge throug~ lec;ures, seminars, and

workshops. The courses should be followed by repeated

SjerViSion of teaching not only by the"headmasters ~nd ~

,headmistresses, but by officiaIs of the Insp~ètorate Division.

According to the, teachers surveyed, apart from the occasional

checking of schemes of work bY,department and school, heads,

'they.do not usually receive academic or professional advice

"

" '~

, ,

~o , ~/ ,., ~~~ !.,..

L';~ . "

~ ~.t.. , ,~ .... "-

, 1

,

148

from Inspectorate officials •. Maran9~ (1979, p. 6) attributed

thi s lack- of ~upe~sion to the f~ct that the present 1..

responsibi1ities 0\ school inspectors emphasize administrative

functions, e.g •. c'ollection of school statistics and

registration of candidates for the national examinations •

. --"

, ,

Re~diation of educational inequality is likely to become , 4

more difficult unless efforts are maQe to improve the quality

of instruction at the primary and secondary levels. Social

background f~dtors are beco~ing increasingly important in

determining schol~stic succ~ss and they are being reinforced by

~isparities in instructional res6urces among primary and

secondary schools. Government poliqy cannot easily eliminate

differences in social background which pre-dispose children te

do weIl or poorly at school. But it can make more effort to

remediate conditions intrinsic to inequalities in educational ."

achievement. Qualitative factors can be manipulated to improvè

student performance as was evident in the comparison of the two

Haràmbee ~Chools, and this is suggestive of what ~ust be

accomplished wlth greate: efforts.

\

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149

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... .!. 0 • ~ J

~ 1 ~ 1

Yager, R.E., Engen, H.B., Snider, B.C., "Effects of the labotatory and demonstration methods ,upoq the outcomes of instruction in secondàry biology", in Journal of Research in Science Teachin9, Vol.6, No.I, 1969, pp. 76-86.

Zais, R.S., Cùrriétlum: principles and foundations, New Yorks Harper and Row PubHshers, 1976.

.'

.'

. ; , '. >,.

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" ""_f .•

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162

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

A LETTER OF INTRODUCTION TO SCHOOL HEADS

Kenyatta University Col1ege, Department of Educational Communication and Techno!ogy,

The Headmaster/Headmistress ,

---------------------------

---------------------------Dear Si r/Madam,

P.O ,Box 43844, Nairobi. 31.8.84

RE: Research

I have received official permission to carry out research on "factors influencing student performance" (permit No. O'p/13/001/9C203/10) •

Your school has been selected to participate in this task.

The'study will involve you, teachers teaching Form IV science and mathematics and Form IV students. 1 intend to sorne" questlonnaires, conduct some interviews, and observe

'science and mathematics lessons.

1 shall visit your school on ----------- to make the necessary consultations/arrangements.

I~kindly request you to assist me in this undertaking.

Yours sincerely,

. John Maundu.

-

give

.. "

/

.. '~.' "., f~.fU.' IJ. "i .

163

o· APPENDIX B ,

LIST OF SCHOOLS INVOLVED I~ TH~ SURVEY

9 •

1. ,Mangu high school

, 2. St. Francis girls, Mangu ; . " ,

j- 3. Gi k±ndu secondary school

4. Alliance high school t' .

5. Loreto girls high school " ()

6. Thika high school

7. Mary Leakey girls

8. Riara secondary school

9. Kinyogori secondary schoQl , ,

o o

, 1

-0 1

•

, \

,

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164

c' APPENDIX C

SECONBÂRY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE (SSAQ)

o

Student performan~e in various school subje~ts )s believed o

to be influenced ~y a 'multitude of interacting factors such as

students' ability and motivation, teaching-learning behavio~rs,

and to sorne extent by the general organisational structure of

the school.

The purpose of this questionnaire is to help find the

degree of this influence ,or association between a number 'of

school variables and academi~ performance.

Your school has been selected to participate irr this

study. As Head of this institution, you are kindly requested J

"

to complete this questionnaire.

appreciably busy time to fill in

Please find time out of your l. the information asked for.

0,

It will take only a few minutes to complete. Any informat:ion

" you supply will be treated as confidential and will therefore

not be published in such a way that enables others to identify

you.

, 1. Nème of scheol

-2. ' Your sex: male ( ) female ( )

, 3.' ,What is the student population in your ,school?

4. How many teachers teach Form IV maths?

Form IV biology?

.'\ , •.. ,-..-.

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5.

-- .

,,~- .

. , '

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rorm IV çhemistry?

Form IV physics?

How Many Form IV clasSes are talt.ing (a) maths?

(b) sc ience?

a

,.

6. ,For 'the Forl IV students, what ïs the averaqe number of

students par (cl) maths crass? (b) -science class? , I~

7. Where ~o maj,ority of your studen,s come fram?

. W~is- district_, __ ~ ________ --,.-_

(b) thi-a provincê ,

(c)"throughout the republic \

, 8. What was thev19w~st and highest C.P.E qualificatio

o

was use~ to select pupils during the followin ,.

165-

LOWEST QUALIFICATION HIGHEST QUALIFICATION

grade points grade points

(a) 1980

(b) 1981 ~

(c) 1982. CI

~

( d.) 1983

(~ ) 1984

9. How much do you think each of ~he following factors mey , ,"

contribute to poor student' performance in science and

mathematics?

"

'. '

, ..

. ~

D, ..

, a

(0

. " ' ..

'.,

Tick (,) the appropriate box. The number represents a

continuum of possible contfibutions rangi'P9 from A LOT . .. . to VERY LITTLE

166

Vj

_ ~ ",A-LOT 1 .~

4 3 r VERY ,ItITTLE

{a >.Transfer of sc ience \"

,teachers to other

in.stitutions

(b)Short teàching i experience (4 yrs or

o '

less) ,0

in science and/or

ma thema tics ..

'(cJ Inadequate supply

of science and maths

• , .'

academic and professiônal

qU~_~i;icat,ions (e.g.'

f w i th S L t rai ~9 )

Form IV . .

< L~) (e)Absence of or few .

in-sevice courses for - , t o

staff~(less than once a year)

, \ ,

, 0

.. -'

, 1

"

, 10. Rank' ttie:.,\ ~ol16'wing to8sks from 1-13 to show which ones

," ',usually take m'os~ of your tfme and which ones take least time.

0(1- ~ The task taking.,most time should be identified as No. l, while , ,

the one cbnsuming least time i5 n~bered.13.

r

','-~

" \ ' ' '

'0 . ~

-0

o

f

... TASK'

..r

a • Attending school board meetings

b. Dealing with correspondence ,

, c.

d •.

Attending

matters.

Attending

problems o . . ,

to staf f ' s academic

to disciplinary

e. Holding staff meetings

,

f. Attending to care and renovati~n

of school buildings

g.

h.

i.

j •

k.

Ordering school supplies

Supervision of instruction

Securing finance for the school

Attending to general staff welfare

Planning for the future activities

of the school

1. Doing your own classroom

teaching

m. Attend4ng professional seminar~

and workshops

11. Which of the followi~g do you have ,

(a) one head of department for aIl

.r

(b) one head of. department for each

and a separate head for maths

/

in your school?

sc ience subjects C science subject

12. (a) Does your school hav~ a library? Yes ( ) No ( )

(b) If yes, wh~t is the number of volumes f.or 1

167

RANK

l

(

~t ~1~) .••

-- -

( l, ) , SC1ence -------- (ii) maths -----~--

./

13. Approximatelyo how much does your school spend,

14.

percentagewise, out of your total school

budget, on science/maths materials/equipment?'

How

(a)

( bo)

(c)

science \

do you find

adequate

the

barely adequate

inadequate

maths _____ _

vote for these materials?

SCIENCE

( )

( )

)

MATHS

(

(

(

15. When do you order these science/mathematics materials?

(à) throughout the year as the need arises )

( b) at the beginning of the year }

(c) during third term ( )

(d) other time ( )

"-(spec i fy)

16. What academic and non-academic responsibilities do you

give your teaching staff? (e.g. preparing end of term

examinations-- aeademic; being on week dut y

non-academic)

ACADEMIe NON-ACADEMIC

168

r

, -

o

o

o

: -'

APPENDIX D

SECONDARY SCIENCE TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE (SSTQ)

Student performance in science and mathematics in K.C.E

examination i6 thought to be inf1uenced by a multitude of -1 "

factors, e.g. student's ability,' teaching strategies and the

general organisation of the school.

169

The purpose of this questionnaire is to help find o4t the

extent of these influences. Your school has been selected to

participate in this study which will involve headmasters and

headmistresses, science and mathematics teachers, and students.

For your part, yo~ are kindly asked to complete this

questionnaire as accurately as possible. Any information that

you supply will be treated as confidential. None of this

information will be published in such a manner as to enable

anyone to identify you.

NB: Items 10-13 and 16-18 do not apply to maths teachers

1. Name of school where you are currently teaching

2. Your sex male ( ) female ( )

3. What are your professional qualifications?

SI ( ) Dip.Ed. ( ) B.Ed. () B.Sc. and Dip.Ed.,

) M. Ed ( ) etc.

4. Which Of the fol1owing subjects do you teach the Form IVs?

Tick ( ) the appropriate one (s)

,.... •

--

Ct

·C

','

170

(a) Physical science ( ) (e) Biology

(b) S.S.P Biology ( ( f ) Chemistry (

(c) S.S.P Chemistry _!'--

(g') Physics

(d) S.S.P Physiscs ( (h) Mathematics ,

5. For how many years have you taught the named subject (s)

to Form IV students? Fill in below.

, <

SUBJECT TOTAL YRS TAUGHT FORM IV ;' , 1

TOTAL YRS TAUGHT

FORM IV IN THIS SCHOOL

6. To what level did you pursue the science/~athematics

subject(s) you are now teaching the Form IVs?

(e.g. A-level; diploma, bachelors, masters).

SUBJECT LEVEL

7. (i) When was the last time you attended an in-service

/ course in science/mathematics subjects you are

currently teaching?

o

o

, cl

o ----

(a) less than a Y,ear ago

(b) a year ago

(c) two years ago

(d) three years:ago

(e) ~'ore than three years ago

(ii) How long did you spend ~t this course?

(a) less than a day

(b) 1-2 days

(c) 3-4 days

(d) 5-6 days

(e) more than a weèk

NOTE: If more than one course is involveq, please

supply that information at the back of this

quest ionna i re.

8. (a) Do you take part in setting or marking of ~.C.E

science and/or mathematics?

, se'tti~9: markihg:

;

YES

Sc ience/maths

sc i ence/ma ths

(b) Specify subject marked/set

NO

science/maths

science/maths "

\

9.' How often do you use the following types of me~~ods

to teach- science? Put a ,tick ( ) inside the box ,

which best represents each method you use.

,L , >

171,

, .

J

-----~. __ .... _._._---_. -,

C~

'1

(

o

•

172

FREQUENTLY OCCASIONALLY RAREL y NEVER

a) Question and answer method

for presenting information

to the whole c la'ss ,( ) ) (. )

b) Lecture to who1e class

c) Lecture accompani~d by -appr~priate audio-visual

aids ( .:.... ( )

d) Demonst!"ation of laboratory

activities ( )-- ( ) }

e) The class is divided into

smaII groups who work together

on laboratory activities ( ) ( \ ) )

f) The whole clpss goes on field'

trips or excursion in conn~ction

with the sc ience 'programme' ( , ( ) ( )

"

10. Do you divide your class ipto smal1 groups for laboratory

work, project work, or assignments? --_ ....

a} Yes, frequently

b) Yes, occasionally

c) No

( )

( )

)

( )

( )

ff your answer to the above question is 'yes', upon what basis

do you usuaIIy form the groups?

a) homogenous ability (simiIar)

b).heterogenous ability (mixed) , ,

c) students f r iendly to each other/who" work weIl

together

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,1 ( 1

17.3 . . d) randbm assignment to the groups

e) students group themselves

f) other: specify , ,

.. Il. About how long do students spend on science laboratory

activities on their own? ..

a) less than a quarter of the time

b) a quarter of the tirne

c) half the time

d) three quarters of the time

e) no laboratory activities are provided

lZ. How much of your teaching of science subjects to Form IV

s'tudents takes place in the science laboratory?

a) we have no science laboratory

b) less than 40%

c) 40-60%

d) 60-80%

e) more than 80%

13. About how lông does it take you to prepare for:

a) a laboratory class hours"

b) a non-laboratory class hours

,14. What is the relative importance of the following in

determining w,hat you teach on a day-to-day basis?

VERY OF 50MB OF LITTLE

IMPORTANT IMPORTANCE IMPORTANC!

NOT

IMPORTANT

,1 1

1

-n

o

a) What 1 think the

students will need

when they leave school

b} The: of.f ic ial

curriculum or syllabus

c) prescribed text­

books 1 •

d) External

examiantions

e) What the student will

need in the n.ext

course in the

same subjects ,

f) Developing the ability

of students to think

scientifically

g) Helping the students

to acquire a systematic

knowledge of scientific

concepts and principles

-•

--

15. Which kind of laboratoLY do you have in your school?

a) chemistry

b) biology

c} physics \ d) physical science

e) general laboratory (for biology,chemis~ry, and

~) none

174

physics)

o

i) )

o <

1

o

175

16. Jf you have a laboratory, list up,to a maximum of 5 esse~tial

laboratory items w~ich are generally either inadequate or not

available throughtout the year. ,.

Inadequate • Not available "

~\

17. What science related facilities or opportunities do your

students make use of during the year? Tick ( ) aIl that

apply to your school.

~--------

a) school museum

b), /sçhool sc ience club \

c) project work

- - -â) school sc ience di splays (wi thin the school) , .

e) student science congress at the provin~ial/national

level

f) other (specify)

18. How do ~tudents make use of the named facilities or .

opporunities?

a) by performing experiments

b) by writing reports

c) by making displays

d) other (specify) ____________________________ __ ~

,

0

" ~ ~

ï /; . .. ~ ........

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---------- ------~--~-----'cr-

176

19. In which of the following are you,currently or have been

involved?

a) Kenya Science Teachers Association .-

b) Science panel membership (district/provincial/national)

c) Student Science Congress adjudicator

d) Other (specify)

20. What would enab1e you to teach ~cience/maths better to Form IV

students in your school?

. .

21. In assessing the work of your science and/or maths, how'

often do you make use of each of the ~ollowing types of

assessment? Tick

a) tests produced from

outside the ,school

b) teacher-made essay

tests reqtl'i ring a t

least one paragraph

of writing

c) teacher-made

objective tests

d) performance in

assignments

..

) the appropriate box.

FREQUENTLY OCCASIONALLY RARELY NEVER

- (' ) , .() ( )

( )

( )

( )

. .

( )

( )

(

( ) ( )

( ) ( )

( )- (

, .

o

0

0

22. Who initiates the addition of science/mathematics

materials and equipment?

a} head of department

"

b} s~bject head (e.g. for chemistry, biology, math~>

c) class teacher requiring the rnaterials

d} headrnaster1he9 dmistress \

è> technician (s) \

23. How do you prepare Y9ur Form IV students for the K.C.E? 1

Tick ( ) as Many optlons as applicable 1 ! "

a} going through past papers

b) home assignments

c) ~lass quizzes ' ~,

<V "mock" K.C.E

e} others (specify'

a , .

l77

24. Ho~ do you e~change iàeas about the teaching of your subject

with your colleagues? Tick as Many as apply to your situation.

a) we rarely or never do \ , b) during staff meetings .. \

1

c) ~t coffee/tea br~ak

d) other (specify)

'<

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178

' .

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o

APPENDIX E

SECONDARY SCIENCE STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE (SSSQ)

'This is not a test. It is simply a questionnaire who se

purpose is to let you say what ,y ou think al;:>Ç>ut science,

mathematics, and the school you attend. There are no right of -,

179

'c.

wrong answers. Ho~ever, you are kindly requ~sted to give your true

, opinion. '~

o

1'. Name of your school

II. Your sex malè ( ) female ( )

III. Tick ( ) the subjects ~ou are taking in K.C.E "

from the list be10w. . ~ .

(.... o~ ,., -"'t...sl~

a) Physical science e) Bi010gy .J

b) S.S.P Bi010gy l.- f) Chemistrj'

c) S.S.P Physics g) Physics 0

d) S.S.P Chemistry oh) Mathematics

"

IV. Against each of the follo~ing statements indicate the,

description which best represents what you think.

\" \ ~

Strongly Agree Dis8gree\ Strongly

agree disagree

~l. Chemistry is an

enjoyable s~bject ( ) (

2. Biol09Y is an enjoyable 1 •

subJect ( ) ( ) ( ) / ,"

\

181 ,:

Ct, time at school ( ) ( ) (! ) ( )

17. The government should

~end m~re money 'pn

scientific research )~ •

research ( .), ) ( ) (

18. There are too many facts

to learn at schoo'l (, ) ) ( • \

19. Science is very > ~ "

important for our country' s

developmen-t ( " ( ) ( , ) ( ) \'

20. Tpere are many subjects ~

1 dislike at school ( ) ( ) ( )

2l. The most enjoyable part

( of my life is the time .. ,;

l spend at school ( ) ( ) )

V. Biographie data \.

Tick ( those which apply to you i~'each of the followin9:

1. (i) What was/is your father's level of education?

a. did ·not atnnd school

b. below C.P.E

c. C.P.E - d. Form II

e. Form IV

f. Form VI

o g. University

h. Other (specify)

d 182.

o (,~ i )What was/is your father' s occupatiQn?

a. farmer

b. primary/secondary school teacher

c. clerk

d. mechanic/engineer

e. driver ".

f. shopk~eper

g. firm manager

h. librarian , -" ~

i. cook /" ~

j. cashier/bursar

k. government officer

L medical doctor

o \ . m. univerjity lecturer/professor' . . .. . n. sales representat ive

o.~ other (specify)

2. (i) What was/is your mother's level of education?

a. did not attend school

b. below CPE

c. CPE

d. Form II <!.

e. Form IV -

f. Ferm VI

g. ';lniversity

h. other (specify) \

o (ii) What was/is your mother's occupation?

a. heuse-wife

, ,

d

b. farmer , ' , .

1 •

. ' ,\ . \ \ .... "

- . • c

, c. factory worker

d. 'c1erk/typist ..

e. nurs~ ,

-- f. government officer

g. re1igious worker

h. 'cashier

i. cateress/matron

j. "grocery seller"

k, medical doctor ,- 1

1. university lecturer/~r:of~ssor •

m. messenger. ," 4

,

n. primary/sec~ndary school teacher

.. "

~. other (specify)

Il

----, "

1 - )

. --Il

)

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1

183

. •

...

•

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,

...

(

....

.

, . ~

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.. ' " ' '-

r

DIVISION~ .,

1

Il

III

IV . FAILURES

-. ,

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185 ~

d

" APPENDIX G .. 1984

. ALL· STUDENTS SUMMARY OF KC,E RESULTS FOR

" ! IN THE TYPES OF SCHOOLS CHOSEN FOR THIS STUDY

)

" Extra-prov~cial provincial Harambee

~

... (N=-191)" i~(N=202 ) (N=207) . J •

% % %

62.3 19.3 0.0 ~

-, 2.7.8 41.6 3.4"

... ~ ~.4 30.7 19.3

J >

1.6 6.4 39.6 '-' 0.0 2.0 3'.7 ,

a " • Total 100;0 100.0 100.0

.. ,.,.

'I!

J# 0

~

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'0

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_ \ J o. • APPENDIX H .

, .

:.-

ATTITÙOE bF'SECOND~RY SCH00L STUnENTS TOWARDS MATHEMÀTICS BY TYPE OF SCHOOL ATTENDED

SCIENCE -AND

\ '

Extra-provincial Prov~ncial Harambee

1. Science and maths

are ..enjoyable:

, '

Strongl~ agree

Agree

Disagrèe

Strongly disagree

o Total

"-2. Science and maths

are easy:

- ;

Strong1y agree . ~,

, .Agree

. Disagree

Strongly disagree •

Total

(N=158) (NII177) (N-143)

\

%

7.6

72.7

19.1

0.6

IO{)'.O

1.3

40.7

46.5 '

11.4

, ioo~ 0 ,

, . " ,

J.

, •

11.9

62.7 •

23.1-

1.7

100.0

3.4

44.6

'44.2

8.0

100.0

, ,

-' ~"\

% 0

..

1.4

~O/(

56.7.

7.0

100.0

O ••

25.4

55.7

18.!

100.0

"

186

. ,

..

.. 1

'c . ,

• ;.

"

• 187

APPENDIX 1 4 ~ •

SUMMARyGOF KC~ RESULTS FOR ALL STUDENTS IN ~HE TWJ?I HARAMBEE SCHOOLS .. , CHOSEN FOR THI S~ STUDY

• <!l '

School

'," . (N=99) ~

, " % "

DIVISION . . 1 0.0

II 1.0

III 8.J.

IV 42.4 4

FAILURES 48.5 ,.

Total 109·0

\,

'",

•

\.

, . 5,

!>

,;

.,

School 6

(N=108')

%

0.0

5.6

29.6

37.0'

27.8

-100.0 --

. ..

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/' ',\ j ',,-

II'

"-.'

,0

.~

• ...

"

1>

·0

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188

t APPENDIX J .. _ 0' ,~ ,- ,

CORRELATIONSoAMONG SCHQbL SpBJECTS, ~Np BETWEEN SCHOOL SUBJECTS AND

'PARENTAL EDUCATION AND OCCUPATION

, " SCHOOL TyPE

.II .. EXTRAP. PROVo HARAt-f. ALL* , ,. -, VARIABLES 0

;~ '"\ .~ . CPE X Fathers' education 0.18 0.03 0.07 -0.25

" .~

'l

CPE x Mothers' edùcation 0.17 -0.03° 9·15 -0.25

'tPE x Fathers' occupat i,on o .1f> -0.11 0.17 -0.11

CPE x Mothers ' occupation 0.09 -0.03 0.06 ,-0.20

.", , .C,?~, ~,RCE mathematics 0.48 0.47 0.31 0.67 ). '\ ~ .....

" Fathers' edu. x ...

Fé}thers' ôccup. '0.70 0.59 0.41 à.6~

Mothers' .. edu.· x Mother-s' occup. 0. .• 67 0.58 0.43 0.63 0

ReE mathematics' .x RCE biology 0.62 0.53 0.65 (),. 74 .. RCE mataematics x ReE phy. science 1 0.43 0.47 lO .. 64

--- ________ · _____ L --- ---:---- - ------- ----r- - -.----- - ---- - ---- - -----

* legend: EXTRAP. = Extra-provincial

PROVo = provinci .. l

HARAM. = Harambee

ALL .'~

\

.\

= AlI three types of scho~ls cQmbined ~ ,

d ,'. -

" "

\

"

" )~;' ., ~ .':--~