Factors influencing students’ choice of christian religious education in public secondary schools in Matungulu Sub-county, Machakos county, Kenya

Abstract

Curriculum flexibility is one of the important ingredients of curriculum development. This aspect allows students to make choices as to the subjects that they have to undertake after being exposed to the content of most subjects offered in the curriculum at lower levels. In Kenya’s secondary education system, students at lower secondary are exposed to curriculum content that spans across 12 subject areas. After the lower secondary stage, the students are then supposed to choose subjects based on given clusters which have a bearing on the future careers of individuals. CRE as a subject is one of those optional subject areas that students choose among other subjects in the humanities cluster as the students advance to senior secondary level. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate the factors influencing students’ choice of Christian Religious Education as a subject in public secondary schools in Matungulu Sub-County, Machakos County, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to: Establish the influence of students’ career aspirations on their choice of CRE, determine the influence of CRE teaching resources on students’ choice of CRE, establish the influence of parental guidance on students’ choice of CRE and to determine the influence of the students’ previous performance in National Examinations on the choice of CRE. The study used descriptive research design and collected data from a sample of 432 respondents who were chosen from a total of 1202 respondents. Test re-test method was used in pilot testing to measure the reliability of the instruments. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect data where 30 principals were interviewed, 72 CRE teachers and 330 Form Three students responded through questionnaires. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation was applied to calculate the co-efficient of correlation. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 22. The findings of the study revealed that students career aspirations t (277) = 8.2; p≤.05 β= .625), CRE materials t (279) =2.67; p =.008; β =.107), parental guidance t(279)= 4.762; p≤.05; β=.233) and previous performance t(279)= 4.697; p≤.05; β=.212) had a statistically significant influence on the choice of CRE as a subject. The study recommends among others that schools and parents should support learners by purchasing learning and teaching materials as they play an integral role in the performance of subjects and by extension the choice of subjects. The efforts made by the Ministry Of Education in ensuring each learner has a textbook should be supported by all stakeholders as this will significantly help learners in making informed subject choices. This study will be beneficial to teachers and parents and students as it offers insights on the factors that influence the choice of CRE among secondary school students.