Stakeholders’ Perception of Policy Articulations Influence on student Dropout in Secondary Schools in Rongo Sub-County Kenya

Abstract

Secondary School dropout is a critical issue in today’s world. Students who drop out of secondary schools face a lot of challenges. In Rongo Sub-County, Kenya, in the year 2016, 7,946 boys and 5,344 girls were enrolled in schools against sub-county census of 21,603 boys and 22,017 girls. This study investigated policy articulation influence on student dropout in secondary schools. The objective established influence of government’s policy articulation on dropout in the sub-county. The study used concurrent triangulation design. The target population was 24 public secondary schools, 183 teachers and 8083 students. The sample were 12 public schools, 12 principals (11 responded), 126 teachers (100 responded) and 420 students (382 responded). Sampling exploited purposive sampling and stratified sampling method. Questionnaires were used to collect data. The data collected was summarized and analysed quantitatively. The study established that students do drop out from the Kenyan secondary schools. Factors influencing dropout was failure to articulate government policies that could counter dropout. Therefore, the government and stakeholders should put measures in place to articulate policies so that students understand their rights to and be in school.

Keywords

• dropout, policy, academic achievement, secondary, education