Parental Choice and Learner Achievement in Primary Education in Rachuonyo Sub County, Kenya: Focusing on Quality of Education

Abstract

Kenyan government launched Free Primary Education (FPE) in 2003 to make schooling affordable to all parents, butless attention has been paid to the quality assurance and equity of the education system. Studies have indicated thatthe FPE policy sacrificed the quality of education and this led to parents avoiding FPE offered in primary schoolsand take their children to private schools which are considered costly. This study adopted descriptive survey designto as the research design. Rational comprehensive model theory was used which aims at discussing personal factorsinfluencing parental choice for primary education schools in Rachuonyo Sub-County, Homabay County, Kenya. Thetarget population for this study was 5269 parents and 198 head teachers out of which 240 respondents were sampledthrough stratified random sampling. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used as the main data collectiontools. Validity and reliability was ascertained by the internal consistency and piloting. The quantitative data wasanalyzed using data analysis matrix while the qualitative data was analyzed through thematic analysis. The findingsshowed that the parents had great interest on healthy environments; school safety, social atmosphere andconvenience are greatly considered by parents when making decision on schools for children. The findings of thestudy are that learning environment, school safety, social atmosphere and convenience all influence parental choicefor primary schools in Rachuonyo South Sub County. Learning environment scores a mean of 3.1397; school safety,3.4525; social atmosphere, 3.0782; and convenience 3.1285.