Parents’ socio-economic status as a determinant of students’ dropout rates in secondary schools in Kenya

Abstract

Education is the natural right of every human being and is an integral part of every human life. The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of parents’ socio-economic status on secondary school students’ dropout in public day secondary schools in Kenya. The article is an extract from a study done in public day secondary schools in Kitui central sub-county, Kitui County, Kenya. The study was guided by Bertalanffy’s (1968) Systems Theory. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The study population was 25 schools and a sample size of 384 comprising of 22 principals, 22 form three class teachers and 340 form three students. Questionnaires for principals, class teachers and students were used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. The findings show a moderate correlation (r =0.449; p = 0.036) between the education level of the parents and school fee payment and a strong correlation (r =0.609, p =0.046) between family income and students' dropout. The researcher therefore concluded that students drop out of school is attributed to factors like parents’ financial status and educational background, parents’ attitude and family size. The study thus recommended that the government should enhance adult learning policy as this would empower the parents to have better income in order to pay school fees and meet other education costs as well as encourage the parents to change their attitude towards education of their children.