INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON TRANSITION RATES OF LEARNERS FROM PRIMARY TO SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MUKURWEINI SUB COUNTY, NYERI COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Parental level of education entails the extent to which parents have acquired education. There are three categories of parental level of education; educated parents, semi educated parents and uneducated parents. The transition rate of learners from primary to secondary schools in Mukurweini Sub County stood at 96.5% which is lower than the national and county rates at 98.3% and 99.1% respectively. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the influence of parental level of education on learners’ transition rate from primary to secondary schools in Mukurweini sub county, Nyeri County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were; to assess the extent to which educated parents influenced transition rate of learners from primary to secondary schools in Mukurweini sub county, to assess the extent to which semi-educated parents influenced transition rate of learners from primary to secondary schools in Mukurweini sub county and to assess the extent to which uneducated parents influenced transition rate of learners from primary to secondary schools in Mukurweini sub county. The study was guided by the Ecological Systems Theory and the Schlossberg’s (1998) transition theory. The study used mixed methods approach. The target population for this study comprised of 65 head teachers and 65 class 8 class teachers. Using the Central Limit Theorem, 30% of 130 respondents were selected to give a sample of 40 respondents, of whom 20 were head teachers and 20 class 8 class teachers. Stratified random sampling was applied to create 4 strata based on the number of educational divisions in Mukurweini sub-county. Purposive sampling was used to select all the head teachers from the selected schools together with the class 8 class teachers. Simple random sampling was used to select the schools. Questionnaires were used to collect data from head teachers and class 8 class teachers, whereas document analysis was used to collect data on pupil’s transitional rate. Validity was established through expert judgment who improved the content validity. Reliability was determined using test re-test technique and a reliability coefficient of above0.7 was considered appropriate for the instruments to have a higher reliability. Data analysis guide was done both qualitatively and quantitatively. Open ended questions and the document analysis was analysed quantitatively based on the common themes while Quantitative data was analysed descriptively using frequencies and percentages. The quantitative findings of the study were presented using tables whereas qualitative findings were presented thematically and in narrative forms. The findings of the study revealed that indeed parental level of education influence learners’ transition rates from primary to secondary school with the average transition rate standing at 99.4%. Learners with parents who had higher education levels had higher chances of transiting to the next level of education compared to those from families where parents had no education or had semi education, the transition rate was 100%, those who were semi educated were 98.9% and the uneducated parents was 96% . This implies that parent’s level of education had a lot of impact on schooling. The study therefore concluded that the transition of learners from one level of education to the next was influenced by the level of education of their parents. It was therefore recommended that parents need to effectively take up an initiative to encourage their children to pursue education irrespective of their level of education. The findings of the study are hoped to benefit parents as the main stake holders, educationists and sponsors for the appropriate planning since it offers a blue print of the contentious issues about the transition rate in Mukurweini sub county.