TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ................................................................................................... ii
APPROVAL ........................................................................................................ iii
DEDICATION ..................................................................................................... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... v
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... vi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY .................................................................... 1
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM .................................................................. 2
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ............................................................................ 3
1.31 This study was guided by the following research questions: ........................ 4
1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ............................................................................ 4
1.4.1 General objectives ..................................................................................... 4
1.4.2 Specific objectives ...................................................................................... 4
1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY .................................................... 5
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY .................................................................... 5
1.7 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................ 7
Figure 1.1: Conceptual framework ...................................................................... 7
1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS ....................................................... 7
1.9 LIST OF ACCRONYMS .................................................................................. 8
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................... 9
2.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 9
2.2 CHALLENGES FACING FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION ................................. 12
2.3 KEY PLAYERS IN IMPLEMENTING FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION ................ 20
2.3.1 Government contribution ......................................................................... 20
2.3.2 Parents .................................................................................................... 20
vii
2.3.3 Head teachers and management committees ........................................... 21
2.4 CHALLENGES ............................................................................................ 21
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................... 23
3.0 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 23
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN .................................................................................. 23
3.2 LOCALE OF THE STUDY ............................................................................ 23
3.3 TARGET POPULATION ................................................................................ 23
3.4 SAMPLE AND SAMPLING PROCEDURE ...................................................... 24
3.5 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS ........................................................... 24
3.5.1 QUESTIONAIRES .................................................................................... 24
3.6 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES ............................................................ 24
3.7 DATA ANALYSIS ......................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER FOUR .............................................................................................. 26
DISCUSSIONS .................................................................................................. 26
CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................... 29
5.1 FINDINGS .................................................................................................. 29
5.2 RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................... 31
5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................ 34
REFERENCES ................................................................................................. 35
APPENDICES ................................................................................................... 37
APPENDIX A ................................................................................................... 37
QUESTIONNAIRE ............................................................................................. 37
APPENDIX B .................................................................................................... 40
LETTER OF INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 40
ABSTRACT The research study aimed to find out the impacts of free primary education on performance of learners case study of Mlolongo primary school Athi river zone Machakos Kenya. It's aimed at finding out the challenges faced by teachers since the start of free primary education and to investigate the possible ways of improving the performance of learners though leaner-teacher ratios, allocation of resources by the government The Investigation was conducted using quantitative research, method plus a few simple tables, Questionnaires were used to collect the data since the _respondents can read and write. The research employed purposive sampling technique to select the respondents where teachers, learners and parents were taken since they are the participants in free primary education. The size of the sample included teachers and learners from lower and upper primary and about twenty parents. The instruments used involved Questionnaires and Interview guides, since they are reliable, saves time and easy to interpret. The analysis of the data was done quantitatively, since it involved use of questionnaires. The findings from the interpreted data showed that free primary education played a major role in the poor academic performance of learners with specific learning difficulties. It brought absent, increased numbers of learners per class thus learner teacher ratio is very high, making it hard for teachers to attend individual learners (I.E.P) Thus there is need for necessary adjustments to facilitate learning and make it accessible to all learners irrespective of their abilities, disabilities and economic backgrounds. The Ministry of Education should therefore look into ways of expanding facilities, resources and to re-train teachers to include special needs education in the primary teachers education.