Abstract: The study examined the influence of school infrastructure utilization on learners’ academic performance in government primary schools in Kichwamba Sub County Kabarole District. The researcher used a cross-sectional survey design with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study population consisted of head teachers, teachers, health workers and students from candidate classes. A sample size of 148 respondents was used. The study used both questionnaires and interview as methods of data collection. After quantitative data was collected it was edited, coded and then the data entry was done using the Statistical Programme for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 26. The relationship between the independent and dependent variable was tested using the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient. Thematic analysis was used during qualitative data analysis. The study found out that there is a strong positive correlation between physical infrastructure and pupils’ academic performance. The study further found out that there is a weak but significant relationship between co-curricular facilities and pupils’ academic performance. The study further found out that there is a strong positive correlation between health facilities and pupils’ academic performance. This is an indication that sanitation facilities in primary schools have a strong bearing towards pupil’s academic performance. The study therefore concluded that there is a significant relationship between school infrastructure utilization and pupils’ academic performance in government primary schools in Kichwamba Sub County Kabarole District. The study recommended that the department of quality assurance and standard officer should ensure primary schools implement the non-formal curriculum to aid talent development among primary school pupils.

Abstract: The study focused on the exploration of teachers’ perceptions on female leadership in female-led public secondary schools, in Nandi County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to find out teachers’ perceptions of female leadership in Nandi County and whether there is a significant difference in teachers’ perceptions on female leadership in Nandi County. The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional research design. The respondents of this study included teachers and a government representative. The researcher used questionnaires and an interview schedule. The data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. The findings of this study indicated that 86.18% of the teachers agreed that females’ leadership in secondary schools in Nandi County positively influences the academic performance of the learners. 88.95% agreed that female leadership enhances discipline in secondary schools. 87.90% agreed that female leadership improves school infrastructural development while 73.93% that year of experience is an important consideration for appointment into leadership positions. There was a significant difference in the perception of teachers on female leadership between County and Sub-County schools in academic performance (p=0.05=0.05). There was a significant difference in the perception of teachers on infrastructural development between Extra-County and Sub-County (p<0.05) and Extra-County and County (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in the perception of teachers on discipline across the four categories of schools. There was a significant difference in teachers’ perception on female leadership in years of experience between National and Sub County (p<0.05) The conclusions drawn from the findings of this study were that Female leaders in National and Extra- County schools are perceived to perform better than their counterparts in County and Sub-County schools. The study recommended that school administration should empower female teachers into leadership positions either as subject heads, class teachers, or department heads to prepare them for higher leadership positions. The study further recommended that the Ministry of Education and Teachers Service Commission should sensitize female leaders on matters of school infrastructural development and general discipline of the school.

Abstract: Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) is an educational approach that focuses on developing specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes among learners. The implementation of CBC in Kenya has been a major focus in the country’s education sector in recent years. This paper investigated the influence of primary schools’ infrastructure in the implementation of CBC in Bomet Central Sub County. The study targeted 124 respondents comprising of teachers, Board of management and curriculum support staff. The sample size of this study was 95 respondents achieved using Yamane (1967) formula. Descriptive survey design was used and data was collected data using questionnaires and interviews. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics in the form of frequencies and percentages, whereas qualitative data was analyzed using thematic and sub-thematic content analysis. The study found out that 53.7% of the schools had 11 -15 classrooms. In addition, 86.3% of the schools lacked ICT laboratories and had no access to ICT facilities. Similarly, 82.1% of the schools lacked functional libraries hindering the effective implementation of CBC. Furthermore, 70.5% of the schools had playgrounds but lacked play materials and equipment for their learners. It was concluded that most of the schools had partially implemented CBC. It was recommended that the Ministry of Education needs to provide adequate resources and continuously train teachers for effective implementation of CBC. The findings of this study will provide insights into the role of infrastructure in the successful implementation of CBC and inform recommendations for improving the infrastructure in primary schools .

Abstract: The academic performance of public secondary schools in Busia County has been declining for the past three consecutive years below the national mean scores with 3.80 in 2018, 3.68 in 2019 and 3.51 in 2020, the worst affected being Sub County schools. Pricing guidelines issued to schools from the government are dependent on the economic status of the parents for success. For a county like Busia with high poverty index of 69.3%, there could be challenges of resourcing schools for quality attainment. The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of development fund pricing guidelines on the availability of adequate infrastructure to public sub-county secondary schools in Busia County. Stratified random sampling was used to select 60 schools from 114, and purposive sampling to select 7 Sub County Directors of education, for the study. Questionnaires for principals, interview schedule for sub county directors of education; observation checklist and document analysis guide were used to collect data. The researcher pre-tested the instruments using 10 schools in the study population and obtained a reliability of 0.8 for Principals’ questionnaire. Quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics involving percentages, mean sco res, correlations. Qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. The findings indicated that the development fund pricing guidelines did not avail adequate infrastructure to schools with a weak positive Pearson’s correlation index (R2=0.003); This study might help education economists and planners to come up with effective methods of pricing secondary education in Kenya for quality purposes.

Abstract: It is generally accepted that infrastructure can have a big impact on any kind of development. This includes agricultural development, where a good infrastructure can quickly improve the ability to convey yields to market, store it properly if required and even enhance the capacity to produce more. This study’s goal was to find out how infrastructural conditions affect development of agriculture in Matsangoni Ward., Kilifi County, Kenya. The sample size for the study, which comprised 200 farmers and one Agricultural Officer, was determined using the Yamane formula. Stratified random sampling was used. The data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. Descriptive, inferential and thematic analysis were used to analyze the data. The highest number of farmers had murram roads access but generally, farmers do not have good access roads. Lack of proper storage facilities is also a major challenge. There are no water storage facilities too. These conditions have had a slowdown effect on transformation of agriculture, in an area where the large majority of farmers are smallholders. The study can initiate policy initiatives towards addressing rural agricultural infrastructural management in Kenya. The information from this study will be disseminated to the stakeholders and wider audience through publishing the findings in various academic platforms and agricultural journals.

Abstract: The study assessed the availability of physical infrastructure and its influence on the quality education in public secondary school in Arusha District. This study was grounded in the systems theory by Ludwig von Bertalanffy. The study employed mixed research approach and descriptive research design. The study responded to two research objectives namely to: assess the availability of physical infrastructure in public secondary school and investigate the influence of physical infrastructure on quality education in public secondary schools. Data were collected using questionnaires and interview schedule. The targeted population of 11643 from 33 public secondary schools from which a sample size of 98 (60 students, 30 teachers, 4 school heads and 4 WEOs) respondents from 4 secondary schools, were selected by simple, stratified and purposive sampling techniques. Research experts ascertained the validity of the instruments while reliability was tested and found to correlate at Cronbach coefficient Alpha value of r= 0.91 at teachers’ and students’ questionnaires. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the results were presented in tables of frequencies and percentages. Qualitative data were thematically coded and analyzed alongside research questions. The findings were presented in narrative forms. The study revealed many schools have no teachers’ office, instead they use one of the students’ classrooms while classrooms are not enough for students, in some schools teachers are using students’ furniture interchangeably. The study recommends parents’ involvement in construction of infrastructures, regular maintenance and well equipping strategies for enough infrastructures in distributing resources for infrastructure development.

Abstract: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been found to be important in the teaching and learning process for 21st century. However, the effective use of this contemporary paradigm was found to be subjected to many factors. This paper aimed to assess the level at which ICT is being used and the challenges met by Biology teachers in teaching and learning process. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from a sample of 64 Biology teachers randomly selected from secondary schools of Rulindo District. During data collection, a Likert’ scale questionnaire and interview protocol were used. A descriptive statistic was used to analyse the obtained quantitative data while independent sample t-test was used to compare the level of using ICT between males and females. Additionally, qualitative data were used to feel the gap not filled by quantitative findings. The findings showed that ICT was basically used in general purposes like preparation of teaching notes and making scheme of works rather than being used in specific biological experiments. The main challenges preventing the adequate use ICT for teaching Biology were the lack of adequate ICT resources, lack of adequate trainings and limited technical support. On the other side, the results from independent sample t-test showed a difference in the level of using ICT between males and females (t=2.508, p=.015). It has been found that male teachers (M= 2.32, SD=0.63) used ICT at high level compared to their female counterparts (M=2.16, SD=0.54). Therefore, all educational agents have to increase their investment in providing adequate ICT resources, and effective training on the best ways of integrating ICT in teaching different subjects. A strong motivation and encouragement is also needed to all teachers for preventing gender disparity in using ICT for teaching Biology and science subjects in general.

Received November 21, 2019; Revised December 27, 2019; Accepted January 7, 2020

Abstract: Technology integration remains a challenge in private and public universities across East Africa, impacting most on the performance of learners and lecturers in universities. The purpose of the paper was to examine the technology integration imbalances/challenges in institutions of higher learning in East Africa. The paper focused at;
East African universities with online publications on technology integration, challenges to technology integration among universities and technology integration challenges common in universities. The paper employed both cross- sectional and correlational survey. The study targeted 50 private and public universities in East Africa. However, based on the literature reviewed, only 20 universities had online publications on technology integration. SPSS was used to analyze collected data for generating inferential statistics while the Content value analysis was used to generate frequencies. Results indicated that, incompetences, inadequate professional development, inadequate resources, low attitude of students and lecturers, resistance of lecturers, inadequate funding and inadequate technological infrastructure were major challenges targeted universities. Results indicated that there was no significant difference (p˃0.05) in technology integration between private and public universities in East Africa. The paper concluded by developing a FITI model for universities and recommends universities to invest in infrastructure and training as the key drivers to technology integration.