An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Co-curricular Policy in Developing Talent Among the Youth in Secondary Schools in Transmara West Sub-county, Kenya.

Abstract

Many school-going children are placed at risk by school practices that are based on a system of education which tend to glorify those who excel academically while condemning students who fail in examinations and therefore regarding them to be of lower quality. The study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of co-curricular policy in developing talent among the youth in secondary schools in Transmara West Sub-County, Kenya. The objectives of the study included to assess the level of awareness on co-curricular policy among stakeholders and to assess the training needs of head teachers, games HODs, club patrons and coaches in areas of skills shortage identified. The study adopted a mixed methodology with the Naturalistic and participant-oriented research design. From a population of 4202, the researchers used stratified sampling technique to sample 9 head teachers, 90 teachers and 270 students from the 9 schools sampled with each providing 30 students for the study thus making a sample of 369 respondents.   The data was analyzed using Microsoft excel and SPSS programme. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The findings revealed that there was inadequate time allocated for co-curriculum activities and that most schools did not take co-curricular activities seriously. Most respondents were not aware about the co-curricular policy.  There was also need for schools to expose their teachers to structured training in order to empower them with the necessary skills and techniques needed to develop talent among the youth under their watch.

Key Words: Evaluation, Effectiveness, Co-curricular Activities, Talent