Influence of Home Environment on Academic Performance in Primary Schools in Nyagachi Zone, Nyamira County, Kisii

Tiesoi Elkanah Nyamwaya, Ezekiel Nyambega Omwenga, Enock Meshack Obuba
Kisii University, Kenya
Corresponding Author: eomwenga@kisiiuniversity.ac.ke

Received August 24, 2020; Revised August 26, 2020; Accepted September 1, 2020

Abstract: The Kenyan Government is keen that its learners gain entry to basic education as evidenced in the gazettement of free primary education programme. The Education sector continues to face several challenges, especially declining performance of learners in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in public institutions. This region is among the areas witnessing poor performance in KCPE in the past five years. The objectives of the research include; to establish the influence of parents’ income and level of education on the pupils’ academic performance in KCPE in Nyagachi Zone, Nyamira County. Descriptive survey design was utilized. The target population included the head teachers, pupils and parents of Nyagachi Zone, Nyamira County. The research employed purposive and random sampling design. The sample size composed of 13 head teachers, 121 pupils and 121 parents/guardians of the sampled pupils. Test- retest method was utilized to test the reliability of tools. Data was analysed by means of SPSS to produce correlations with the various study variables. Frequency counts, means and percentages were calculated for quantitative data and results presented by means of frequency distribution tables. The study revealed that 50.4% of parents in Nyagachi zone attained primary level education, had low income and rarely assists their children in school work. 89.2% of the respondents indicated that the family’s income affect’s KCPE performance in Nyagachi. The study recommends that parents enhance their economic performance to provide the required resources for their children’s education. Stakeholders, parents and other community members can be sensitized to provide conducive environment to improve in academic performance.