Headteachers’ Perceptions of the Relationship between Parental Support and Learners’ Retention in Public Secondary Schools in Bureti District, Kenya

Abstract

Parental support has been central to realizing quality education. Parental support in areas of fees, teaching materials, uniforms and labour has been vital for the expansion of education in Kenya. However, a low retention level which is an indicator of internal efficiency has remained a challenge in most public secondary schools.  Consequently, the study sought to establish the headteachers’ perceptions of the relationship between parental support and learners’ retention in public secondary schools in Bureti District, Kenya. The study used a descriptive survey research design. The head teachers of public secondary schools constituted the respondents of the study. A sample of 30 respondents was drawn for the study. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the respondents for study. The study used questionnaires and interview schedules to collect data. The research instruments were pilot tested on headteachers that were not part of the study sample. Using Cronbach's alpha, an index of 0.874 for the questionnaire was established to mean it was reliable. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics technique were used to analyze data with the help of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20). To make reliable inferences from the data, all statistical tests were subjected to a test of significance at coefficient alpha (α-level= 0.05) equal to 0.05. The study revealed that there is a statistically significant relationship between parental support to education and learners’ retention levels. This study recommends that school leaders be guided to interrogate this relationship in a way that will provide policy direction in enhancing retention among secondary school learners.

Keywords: Parental Support, Learners’ Retentions, Public Secondary Schools, Bureti, Kenya.