QUALITY IMPLICATIONS OF LEARNING INFRASTRUCTURE ON PERFORMANCE IN SECONDARY EDUCATION: A SMALL SCALE STUDY OF A COUNTY IN KENYA

Learning infrastructure is a key base for effective teaching and learning in schools. The infrastructure forms a very important component in ensuring successful education. The purpose of the study was to evaluate quality implications of learning infrastructure on secondary education in a County in Kenya. The objective of the study was to explore the quality implications of learning infrastructure on secondary education. The study employed the Production Function Theory. The study adopted sequential explanatory design that was employed within mixed methods approach. The target population constituted of 334 principals, 334 senior teachers and 9 education officers. The sample size constituted of 181 principals 181 senior teachers selected through stratified random sampling technique and 9 education officers selected by saturated sampling technique. Instruments for data collection were questionnaires, interview schedule. Reliability was determined by piloting through the split-half method. The reliability index for the instrument was 0.826. Quantitative data for the study was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. On the concern about educational facilities; library had the highest Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (PMCC) of (r = .832, p=.001), this was followed by a correlation of .800 for laboratory. This shows that they had a positive association in the model of educational facilities. Further; there were also positive correlations of .730, .716 and .715 for administration offices and water, administration offices and classroom, laboratory and classroom respectively. This study finding might assist in decision making to the Ministry of Education and all other stakeholders in education in implementing policies that might ensure provision of educational infrastructure for quality education. This study recommends that the Ministry of Education (MoE) and schools revisit their policies related to provision of safety measures and work towards their implementation.  Article visualizations

Quality of Programmes and Training in Youth Polytechnics: An Assessment of the Challenges Facing Youth Polytechnics in Provision of Quality Education and Training in Kenya

Tertiary education especially in Youth Polytechnics has been identified as the means to provide relevant and adequate technical skills for industrial and economic development consistent with aspirations of Kenya Vision 2030. Youth Polytechnics being accountable to the public as stakeholders need to guarantee that they offer quality training. However, with the diminishing number of students seeking education through Youth Polytechnics, the question of quality is critical and requires urgent attention. The objectives that guided the study were to find out the attitude of stakeholders on quality of programmes offered; Investigate challenges facing Youth Polytechnics in provision of quality education. The study adopted a descriptive research survey design and informed by the Classical Liberal Theory of Equal opportunity and Social Darwinism. The units of analysis were the 31 Youth Polytechnics, 4 were used in the pilot study. Methodology; data was collected through interviews and questionnaires. The findings were that there is shortage of instructors in the Youth Polytechnics and No standardization in academic programmes undertaken across the country. It was concluded that the enrolment was diminishing and quality of training, physical facilities and human resource was wanting

Goal Orientation and Learning Readiness: Evidence Among Freshmen in Selected Kenyan Universities

This study, which adopted an ex post facto research design, investigated the relationship between goal orientation and learning readiness among first year students in three public universities in Kenya. A sample size of 372 first years from the three universities were obtained using both stratified and simple random sampling techniques. The Goal Questionnaire for Students (GQS) and the Learning Readiness Questionnaire (LRQ) were used to collect data. The findings reported Eta squared (.547) which implied that a fairly large proportion (54.7%) of variance in he learning readiness index among the first year students is explained by goal orientation of the students. Results from the study determined that universities should emphasize techniques of performance approach in their guidance programs. Key words: Goal Orientation, Learning Readiness, first year, students, universities, Kenya Cette étude, qui a adopté une conception de recherche ex post facto, a examiné la relation entre l'orientation vers un objectif et la préparation à l'apprentissage chez les étudiants de première année dans trois universités publiques du Kenya. Un échantillon de 372 étudiants de première année des trois universités a été obtenu en utilisant des techniques d'échantillonnage aléatoire simple et stratifié. Le Goal Questionnaire for Students (GQS) et le Learning Readiness Questionnaire (LRQ) ont été utilisés pour collecter les données. Les résultats font état d'un coefficient Eta carré (.547) qui implique qu'une proportion assez importante (54,7%) de la variance de l'indice de préparation à l'apprentissage chez les étudiants de première année s’explique par l'orientation des objectifs des étudiants. Les résultats de l'étude ont déterminé que les universités devraient mettre l'accent sur les techniques d'approche de la performance dans leurs programmes d'orientation. Mots clés: orientation vers un but, préparation à l'apprentissage, première année, étudiants, universités, Keny