ABSTRACT
Despite many policies and strategies that have been developed to enhance secondary education in Kenya, wastage still remains a major concern. However, identifying what causes students to dropout is difficult because there is no single reason. Preliminary investigation by MOE (2010) shows that at the national level, dropout rates among students in public secondary schools in 2010 registered 9.5%. In Kenya, a few studies have been done on the determinants that lead to education wastage in public secondary schools. However, in Laikipia West District, no study has been done on the determinants that lead to education wastage in public secondary schools. The purpose of this study was to assess the determinants of education wastage in public secondary schools in Laikipia West District. The objectives of the study were to: determine the school based determinants that lead to education wastage in public secondary schools; establish the socio cultural determinants that lead to education wastage in public secondary schools; establish students‘ personal determinants that lead to education wastage in public secondary schools in Laikipia West District. In this study, the researcher employed descriptive research design. The target population for this study was 2000 respondents which consisted of 150 teachers and 1849 students and one Area Education Officer. The sample size of the study was 20 head teachers from 20 public secondary schools, 40 form four class teachers from 20 public secondary schools, 344 form four students from the 20 public secondary schools and 1 Area Education Officer. This study used questionnaires to collect data from head teachers, form four class teachers, form four students and the Area Education Officer. Quantitative data collected by using a questionnaire was analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and presented through frequencies and percentages. From the findings, it was established that there has been a steady increase in the rate of wastage in public secondary school for a period of five years (2009-2013). From the study findings, school based determinants, socio-cultural determinants and students, personal determinants contribute to education wastage in the district. The study recommended that teachers, parents and students be involved in efforts to address the school based factors leading to wastage in the district, opinion leaders and intellectuals in the local community be involved in addressing socio-cultural factors that contribute to education wastage, and guidance and counseling services be intensified to address the students‘ personal attributes that leads to education wastag