INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL CULTURE ON SECONDARY SCHOOL COMPLETION RATES IN SAMBURU EAST SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

One of the main challenges facing secondary education sector in Kenya and other parts of the world today is low secondary school completion rates, which is an indicator of low internal efficiency. Despite the effort by the central government of Kenya to initiate Free Secondary Education (FSE) and implementation of the policy of 100% completion rates, secondary school are still experiencing low completion rates. The objective of this study was to investigate the Influence of school culture on Secondary School Completion Rates in Samburu East Sub-county, Kenya. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The target population was 261 subjects derived from 254 Form Four students in secondary schools within Samburu East Sub-county, Kenya. Sample size of 156 form four students participated in the study as respondents. Stratified sampling technique was used to obtain respondents from the strata of boys and girls from mixed schools while simple random sampling technique was used to select boys and girls from single gender schools. Proportionate sampling was used to apportion respondents to each sampled school. The study established that school cultures would influence 38.2% positive change in secondary school completion rates in Samburu East Sub-county. This implies that implementation of management practices related to school cultures leads to increase in secondary school completion rates. It was concludes that performance of regular sacred songs, regular services organized by Christian societies, instillation of discipline and Regular prayers encourages students to complete their secondary school education. It is recommended that the Head of school teachers should make the school environment conducive for learning, build positive school culture, use available instructional resources, motivate learners, and monitor classroom management practices so as to improve secondary school completion rates.