Influence of Family Relationship on Academic Performance of Pupils in Public Primary Schools in Kianjiru Zone, Embu County, Kenya

One of the major aspects of the Kenya Vision 2030 is Education. Kenya Vision 2030 states that education and training is an instrument to develop Kenya to be a middle-income economy. Home factors have been pin- pointed as of great importance in moulding the performance of pupils in schools worldwide. This research, therefore, investigates the influence of family relationship on the academic performance of pupils in Kianjiru zone, Mbeere South Sub-county. The interest to pursue this research arose due to the poor performance by pupils in the said area in the national examinations. The study adopted a descriptive survey design method to collect information. The target population of the study was 458 standard seven and eight pupils in Kianjiru from where a sample size of 88 pupils was drawn. The data was collected using questionnaires for pupils that were analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented using frequencies, percentages. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21 was used to aid in generating a summary of results. The study established that families play a vital role in the pupils learning and that the efforts of the parents are important in improving the performance of the pupils. It further established that pupils’ academic performance is affected by parental factors which include providing them with learning materials, providing them with the necessary stationery, helping them to do their homework, doing follow-up of their schoolwork and attending school meetings. It was also notable that differences in educational background of parents did not contribute to a significant difference in the academic achievement of the pupils. The recommendations of the study were that the parents should be sensitized on the need of their involvement in the children’s learning. The school administration should organize seminars to educate the parents on the importance of creating a good learning environment at home. Keywords: Kenya; Family relationships; Pupils’ academic performance; Public primary schools; Learning environment

AN EXAMINATION OF THE IMPACT OF THE TEACHER QUALIFICATIONS ON MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT OF CLASS SIX PUPILS WITH DYSCALCULIA IN MBEERE SOUTH SUB COUNTY, KENYA

Previous studies have noted that 10 children in every class of 40 pupils do not acquire mathematical numeracy in the sub-county. Further, among these pupils, those in class six achieved between 15% -18% in Mathematics subject. In this regard, it is expected that for inclusive education; teacher competency is considered a key determinant for mathematics achievement among class six learners with dyscalculia in Mbeere South Sub-County, Embu County. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of teacher qualifications on the Mathematics achievement of class six pupils with dyscalculia. The study adopted a mixed method research adopting a descriptive survey design. The research was guided by the social developmental theory. The target population consisted of 378 pupils, 97 teachers from 14 primary schools, and 1 QASO officer, giving a total of 476. A simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 38 pupils, and 30 teachers, whereas purposive sampling was used to select the QASO officer. The main tools of data collection were: questionnaires and interviews. Piloting was done in one of the schools in the study area, which was omitted in the final study. Quantitative data realized from questionnaires were tallied, coded, and analyzed descriptively (means, frequencies, and percentages), with the aid of SPSS software, version 26. The study findings were presented in tables and diagrams. Qualitative data from the interview was edited, transcribed, coded, and analyzed thematically. Findings revealed that established the majority (60%) of class six mathematics teachers were well trained and therefore knowledgeable to teach pupils with dyscalculia. However, the majority (53.3%) of the teachers disagreed that they were not able to cope with pupils with dyscalculia while a further 53.3% disagreed that they have a negative perception of learners with dyscalculia. With 60% positive cases being greater than 54.4% negative cases, teacher qualifications, experiences, and abilities are considered to determine to a great extent mathematics achievement by class six pupils with dyscalculia. The study concluded that the teacher competencies determined to a great extent the mathematics achievement of class six pupils in Mbeere South sub-county. The study recommended that the school administrative body should ensure that there are enough teaching and learning resources to ensure a persuasive learning process in schools. This can be done with cognizance that government support may not always be adequate.  Article visualizations

Influence of Family Relationships on the Academic Performance of Children in Primary Schools in Kenya: A Case of Kianjiru Zone in Embu County

One of the key emphases of the Kenya Vision 2030 is education and training. It suggests education and training as a vital strategy to develop Kenya to be a middle-income economy. Family factors have been pin pointed as playing a significant role in enhancing the academic performance of children in schools worldwide. This research investigated the influence of family relationship on the academic performance of pupils in Kianjiru zone,in Embu County, Kenya. This was necessitated by the poor performance of pupils in the said area in the national examinations. The study employed the Descriptive Survey Design to collect information. The target population was 458 Standard seven and eight pupils in Kianjiru zone from where a sample size of 88 pupils was drawn. The data was collected using questionnaires for pupils that were analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented using frequencies, percentages. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21 was used to aid in generating a summary of results. The study established that families play a vital role in the pupils’ learning and that the efforts of the parents are important in improving the academic performance of the children. It further established that children’s academic performance is affected by parental responsibilities such as providing them with learning materials, helping them do their homework, doing follow-up of their school work and attending school meetings. A notable thing however was that differences in educational background of parents did not make any significant difference in the academic achievement of the children. The recommendations of the study were that the parents should be sensitized on the need of their involvement in the children’s learning. This can be by the school management organizing seminars or meetings to enlighten the parents on the importance of creating a good learning environment at home. Keywords: Kenya; Family relationships; Children’s academic performance; Primary schools; Home learning environment

A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF STUDENTS INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SKILLS ON SCHOLARLY INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AMONG POST GRADUATE STUDENTS IN KIAMBU COUNTY, KENYA

With the rapid growth of information, the ability of students to be information literate has become critically important. However students information retrieval skills required for scholarly information management are still wanting as most papers written by postgraduate learners contain irrelevant information that are not related to their study topics. This study investigated the effects of students’ information retrieval skills on scholarly information management among post graduate students in Kiambu County Kenya. The study adopted information management theory as it showed that information literacy practices influence scholarly information management. A mixed methodology with concurrent triangulation design was used to conduct the research as it allowed the researcher to collect and analyse qualitative and quantitative data concurrently. Generalization was made based on findings generated from the collected data. The study had a target of 2451 which included 40 librarians, 40 supervisors, and 249 postgraduate students. The study participants were selected through purposive and simple random procedures. The sample population included 245 postgraduate students from 4 selected Universities and 4 library staff from each of the selected universities. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires for students and interview schedule for librarians. Pilot testing ensured certainty of instruments, the retest method helped estimate reliability (r=0.70) to ensure that data gathered were accurate and reliable and the instruments were validated by seeking constant guidance of the supervisor. To achieve all the study objectives, both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered and analyzed to generate descriptive, inferential as well as qualitatively. Quantitative data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 21. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analyzing quantitative data while thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The analyzed quantitative data were presented using Tables. The study findings indicated that postgraduate students’ information retrieval skills normally had positive effects on the students’ scholarly information management. The results further revealed that there exists a statistical significant relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable investigated.  Article visualizations

The Effect of Formal Internal Organizational Communication on Organizational Cohesionin Kenya: A Case of Taylor Movers

A Project Report by Umuliza Muthoni Njiru, Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Executive Masters of Science in Organizational Development (EMOD).The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of formal internal communications on organizational cohesion. The study was guided by the following three research questions: To what extent does top-down communication affect organizational cohesion at Taylor Movers? To what extent does peer-to-peer communication affect organizational cohesion at Taylor Movers? To what extent does upward communication affect organizational cohesion at Taylor Movers? A descriptive research design was adopted for this study. The target population for this study comprised of 312 permanent staff members from Taylor Movers offices. Stratified random sampling was used to select a sample of 79 employees. A self-administered structured e-questionnaire was used in conducting this study. The data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) tool. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics like frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation and presented in tables and figures. With regard to the effect of top-down communication on organizational cohesion, majority of the participants indicated that their first level supervisor could interact with them more. Majority of the participants indicate that their manager approached them to discuss problems. Majority agreed that their manager encouraged career development opportunities. Under top-down communication, career development had a strong positive correlation with organization cohesion. However, only one item under top-down communication was found to be statistically significant. Findings on peer-to-peer communications were assessed in terms of presence of constructive teamwork, encouragement in teamwork, recognition in teams, respect in teams and sharing of information. The study found that majority of the participants agreed that there was constructive teamwork at this organization. Majority of the respondents agreed that they felt that their colleagues understood the way they communicated. Majority agreed that they were recognized in the team by their teammates. Majority also agreed that they were respected n the team by their teammates. Majority agreed that they were happy to be working in a team than on their own. Under peer-to-peer communication, presence of constructive team work, recognition in teamwork and respect in teams all had strong positive correlations with organization cohesion. In addition, encouragement in teamwork and sharing of information had moderate positive correlations with organization cohesion. Findings on upward communication showed that majority of the respondents agreed that had freedom to make decisions regarding their work. Majority agreed that there is two-way communications between management and them. Majority of the respondents agreed that they always clarified work related issues with their supervisor. Majority agreed that they regularly sent suggestions to their supervisor. Freedom to approach supervisors had a moderate positive correlation with organizational cohesion. In addition, clarification of issues with supervisors had a strong positive correlation with organization cohesion. The study concluded that in regards that top-down communication affected organizational cohesion to a small extent. Employees don’t feel that their supervisors interact with them enough or communicate reliable information about the organization to them. Whereas peer-to-peer communication had a strong effect on organization cohesion. Staff cooperated with each other to get the job done, everyone was encouraged to participate in teamwork and majority of employees felt respected in the team by their teammates. Finally upward communication was found to have a small effect on organization cohesion at the company. Majority of employees did not feel free to advise top management. Majority of the respondents did not also feel that top management respected the opinion given by staff. The study also recommended that first and second supervisors should interact more with their employees, the frequency of meetings should be increased to ensure more interaction between peers and top level management should acknowledge contribution from employees so that they feel their input is valued