INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL LEADERSHIP PRACTICES ON GIRLS COMPLETION RATE IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN KIMILILI SUB COUNTY, KENYA

This paper looks at the influence of school leadership practices on girls’ completion rate in public primary schools in Kimilili Sub County, Kenya. The study was conducted in light of increased number of girls dropping out of school before finishing off class eight. Furthermore, statistics shows majority of girls have absenteeism and truancy behaviour which result to incidents of repetition and drop outs before finishing grade eight. Therefore, the study collected data from selected public primary schools teachers in Kimilili sub county public primary schools. The data for this study was collected through use of questionnaire distributed to a sample of 65 teachers. The study found out that indeed completion rate of girls has been an issue facing majority of public primary schools in Kimilili. Various factors stretching from home, individual, environmental and school factors were causes of low girls’ completion rate in schools in Kimilili Sub County. With regard to school leadership, all respondents agreed that school leadership practices, behaviours and styles significantly influenced girls completion rate among girls in the schools studied to a moderate level. This meant that leadership practices used by school administration that address the plight of girls; supervising guidance and counselling services implementation, educating parents on the importance of girl child education, supervising girls pupils school attendance patterns, provision of school feeding programmes and sanitary resources would to promote high completion rate among girls in schools. In recommendations, the study suggests that school leadership need to be pro-active in addressing the needs of the girl child and that participative and transformation leadership practices needs to embrace as a stop gap measure of addressing girls completion rate in schools.  Article visualizations

Evaluation of Bacillus thuringiensis corn containing pyramided traits for management of sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (F.)

The sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (F.), is a major target of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn in the U.S. mid southern region. Corn expressing pyramided Bt proteins has recently become commercially available in the U.S. The objectives of this study were 1) to determine survival and plant injury of Cry1Ab-susceptible (Cry1Ab-SS), -resistant (Cry1Ab-RR), and –heterozygous (Cry1Ab-RS) genotypes of D. saccharalis on Bt corn containing single and pyramided Bt genes and 2) to assess larval movement of D. saccharalis in different planting patterns of non-Bt and Bt corn. One laboratory leaf tissue bioassay and two independent greenhouse trials were conducted to evaluate larval survival and plant injury on five corn hybrids. On intact plants of non-Bt corn, 43-62% larvae survived after 21 days. Larval survivorship on Cry1Ab corn was 4.7- 5.6% for Cry1Ab-SS, 29.4-32.5 % for Cry1Ab-RS, and 36.6- 45.6% for Cry1Ab-RR. In contrast, the 21-day survivorship on the two pyramided Bt corn hybrids was \u3c5% for the three insect genotypes. Results of the leaf tissue bioassays were consistent with the greenhouse tests. Larval movement of D. saccharalis was evaluated in four planting patterns of non-Bt and Bt plants containing Genuity® SmartStaxTM traits. The four planting patterns were: 1) pure stand of Bt corn, 2) a non-Bt corn plant surrounded by 26 Bt corn plants, 3) pure stand of non-Bt corn, and 4) a Bt corn plant surrounded by 26 non-Bt corn plants. Studies were conducted in three conditions: 1) greenhouse; 2) open field with artificial infestations of 50 eggs on the center plants; and 3) open field study with artificial infestations of 10 neonates on every plant. Larvae of D. saccharalis showed the ability to move from infested plants to at least four plants away and from the infested rows to adjacent rows. The results showed that the pyramided Bt corn can overcome the Cry1Ab resistance and thus should offer a means for Cry1Ab resistance management in D. saccharalis. Together with previous data, the results indicate that the seed mixture strategy might be able to provide a similar refuge population of D. saccharalis as the structured refuge planting

Financing Information Communication Technology Projects in Secondary Schools E-Learning: A Case of Mombasa County, Kenya

Information communication and technology (ICTs) has become common place entities in all aspects of life. Within the education sector, ICT has begun to have a special attention although not extensively as in other fields both globally and locally. Limited funds still presents a challenge in rolling out the e-school projects in Kenyan secondary schools and more so in Mombasa County. This paper presents trends in financing ICT projects in secondary schools in Mombasa County and how projects in the sampled schools which are ICT complaint manage the IT programmes. Furthermore, the paper also sought to uncover the alternative financing options available that could complement the existing ICT projects in increasing the pace of e-schools project implementation. A case study was used using three categories of respondents in each school namely; the administrators, the teachers and the students who were issued with questionnaires and interview schedules whose results revealed that many of the schools which had ICT facilities depended heavily on government funding CDF in financing the ICT projects. The paper also reports that the schools under study were already using educational management software for various processes in the schools. It was revealed that schools still faced infrastructural challenges due to inadequate finances. Notable challenges including limited funding to support the purchase of the ICT facilities to improve access to educational materials, lack of training for teachers to adopt ICT as a teaching tool and lack suitable e-content for various subjects. The outcome of the findings indicated that largely the initial objectives of the project had been realized in a number of the sampled schools. Teachers, students and the school administrators were using computers to access educational resource material from the internet, prepare and process examination results, manage, monitor and process financial reports and communicate using email. It was also evident that the quality of teaching and learning, students’ level of interaction, reasoning, recall, synthesis and evaluation had improved tremendously. It is upon this background that the paper sought to analyze the impact of financing ICT projects in managing of secondary schools e- learning in Mombasa County, Kenya. Keywords: ICT Projects, Financing, Education 

The Challenges Facing the Implementation of Early Childhood Development and Education Policy in Bungoma County, Kenya

This paper scrutinises the challenges facing the implementation of Early Childhood Development and Education policy in Bungoma County, Kenya. The study used a mixed research design and study population comprised of the QASOs, the Head teachers, ECDE teachers and the non-teaching staff in respective ECDCs. The sample size of the study comprised of 9 QUASOs, 27 head teachers, 81 teachers of ECDE and 27 non-teaching staff from selected public primary schools in the study region. The study utilised simple random sampling, stratified and purposive sampling. The tools for data collection comprised of the questionnaire, focussed group, interview schedule, observation and document analysis schedules. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics while qualitative data used content analysis procedures. The study identified a number of challenges including: inadequacy of teaching and learning resources, financial constraints, and lack of government good will, poor training of ECDE teachers, insecurity, high pupil-teacher ratio, poor teacher remunerations and the introduction of FPE. The study recommends that: the Counties and Central government should fund the ECDE, the central government should hire ECDE teachers on permanent and pensionable terms; QASOs should be facilitated to cover vast areas with ease and increase the number of visits to the ECDCs; the Education and lastly, the government should train non-teaching staff on safety operations and above all hire a qualified nurse for every ECDE centre. Key words: Challenges, Policy, Implementation

Collective action in space: assessing how collective action varies across an African landscape

This paper develops and applies a new approach for analyzing the spatial aspects of individual adoption of a technology that produces a mixed public-private good. The technology is an animal insecticide treatment called a “pouron” that individual households buy and apply to their animals. Private benefits accrue to households whose animals are treated, while the public benefits accrue to all those who own animals within an area of effective suppression. A model of household demand for pourons is presented. As a private good, household demand for the variable input depends upon output price, input cost, and household characteristics. Input costs for pouron treatments include both the market price of the pourons and the transaction costs that the household must incur to obtain the treatments. Demand also depends upon the way that each household expects its neighbors to respond to one's own behavior. Free-riding is expected in communities with no tradition or formal organization to support collective action. Greater cooperation is expected in communities that have organizations that reward cooperative behavior and punish deviant behavior. Data for estimation of the model were collected for all of the 5,000 households that reside within the study area of 350 square kilometers in southwest Ethiopia. Geographic reference data were collected for every household using portable Geographic Positioning System units. GIS software was used to generate spatial variables. Variables for distance from the household to the nearest treatment center and number of cattle-owning neighbors within a 1-kilometer radius of the household were created. The density of cattle-owning neighbors was used as a measure of the potential benefits from cooperation; this variable was expected to have a positive effect on household pouron demand in communities able to support effective collective action and a negative effect in communities not able to support effective collective action. A set of community binary variables was interacted with the density variable to capture differences between communities. The results confirm the importance of the household-level variables. The results also indicate large differences in ability to cooperate between local administrative units. Everything else equal, the areas least able to cooperate were located farthest from the treatment center, were ethnically heterogenous, and had a different ethnic composition than areas around the treatment centers.

The Effect of Olea afrikana and Cassia didymobotrya and Aging Period, on the Level of Heavy Metal Residues in Fermented Milk A Case of Kabianga Division

The harvesting of indigenous herbs and plants materials for use in form of ash as food additives by different communities dates back to 6000 BC. The present study gives findings on the aging period and use of ash from two types of herbs, Cassia didymobotrya (senetwet) and OleaAfrikana (emitiot) on the levels of sodium and heavy metals lead, chromium, iron and cadmium in fermented milk. Samples were purposely collected from selected households within Kabianga division,of Kericho County. The samples were prepared and analysed as per the AOAC (1996) methods. Lead, chromium, iron and cadmium were determined using an atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) while a flame emission photometer was used in the determination of sodium. From a survey carried, 52.6% of the sampled respondents were male and 47.1% female of which 95% take fermented milk and 90.4% of the respondents take fresh milk, with 19.5% of this taking fresh milk with herbs. Of those who take fermented milk, 28.4% take fermented milk without herbs. The average pH of the milk during processing decreased from 6.67 to 4.14 from 0 day to 6th day for Cassia didymobotrya (senetwet) ash and 6.61 to 4.37 for Olea afrikana (emitiot) herb. Fermented milk with Cassia didymobotrya (senetwet)ash recorded a higher pH of 4.65 than 3.96 of Olea afrikana (emitiot). Showing that the later is generally better for acidity reduction. Cd, Cr, Pb, Fe and Zn were detected in all milk samples at the initial stage of 0 days, in the order of Pb>Zn>Cr>Fe>Cd (3.75, 1.25, 0.30, 0.168 and 0.03 ppm respectively). Addition of 5 g of course Cassia didymobotrya (senetwet) ash decreased the concentration of Pb, Fe and Zn while Cd remained constant. On the other hand, addition of 5 g of course Olea afrikana (emitiot) ash decreased the concentration of Fe and Zn while Cd was unaffected and Pb and Cr being undetected. Olea afrikana (emitiot) herb is better for removal of lead which is toxic to human body. However, for the retention of Fe and Zn, Olea afrikana (emitiot) herb is preferable. Comparatively, grinding ash increases the surface area for both Olea afrikana (emitiot) and Cassia didymobotrya (senetwet) which further reduces the concentration of the metals Cd, Cr, Fe, Zn, and Pb in fermented milk. Neither Olea afrikana (emitiot) nor Cassia didymobotrya (senetwet) retained Pb and Cr during the fermentation process. In addition, Olea afrikana (emitiot) retained upto 100 % zinc compared to Cassia didymobotrya (senetwet) that retained only 60 % of zinc. For reduction of toxicity from Pb, Cr and Cd, Olea afrikana (emitiot) herb is preferred. Keywords: Indigenous herbs, Cassia didymobotrya, Olea afrikana, Lead, chromium, iron and cadmiu

Teaching /Learning Resources and the Implementation of Agriculture Curriculum in Kakamega Central Sub-County, Kenya

Agriculture is an important base of economic growth and development and source of revenue for many countries and individuals. Teaching of agriculture in schools is one way of ensuring food security and these calls for adequate and relevant teaching-learning resources in schools. This study explored the types and quantities of resources available for the teaching of Agricultures in Kakamega central sub county since enrollment and performance in the subject is on the decline. Descriptive Survey research design was employed in the study with a total population of 440 respondents. Data collected was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17 for windows. The study established that our schools lack the requisite teaching and learning resources for agriculture curriculum. Keywords: Teaching- learning Resources, Secondary Agriculture DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-19-02 Publication date:July 31st 201

Socio-Economic Determinants on Learner Access to Primary School Education in Kenya: A Survey of Kaloleni and Rabai Sub – Counties

Education has been recognized as human right and a key factor to reducing poverty and child labour. It is therefore imperative that all girls and boys have access to basic education by ensuring that gender disparities at this level are eliminated. To attain this desire the Government of Kenya announced the introduction of free primary education in January 2003 which saw enrolment in primary schools increase by about 70 percent. While the program created an opportunity for big number of children it created challenges of how to efficiently and effectively ensure learner access to education especially in the rural counties of the country. Vision 2030 acknowledges that “Despite recent improvements, high disparities in access to education at all levels remain a challenge” The study reported in this paper was purposed to determine the socio-economic determinant influencing efficiency to education in Kaloleni and Rabai Sub-Counties in Kenya. Two specific objectives and two research questions were used in the study. The study employed a survey research design with constructivism as epistemology underpinning the study. (Babbie, 1990; Fowler, 2002; Patton, 2002) One hundred and forty public primary schools (140) formed the total population. Random sampling was used to select seventy six school head teachers (76), one hundred and eighty pupils (180) and 180 households. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from the class teachers and pupils while Interviews were carried out for head teachers, household heads and a District Quality Assurance Standard Officer (DQASO).Observation checklists were also used to capture data on socio-economic status of the households, school facilities and the population dynamics in the area. The data gathered from the field was organized and presented in form of frequency schedules, counts and percentages for the purpose of analysis. Both descriptive statistics were used to analyze data and reported things the way they were. The study findings revealed low enrolment and access trends of girls (48.5%) as opposed to that of boys (54.2% in the rural counties are determined by low income (20%) earning between ksh, 1,000/= to 5,000/= per month, poor education background (20%) illiterate no education and (19%) only primary education, parents and large families 80% have children between 6 and 8 per family). One hundred percent of the respondents interviewed cited adverse economic conditions as detrimental to pupils’ enrolment. The study also revealed that school related factors, cultural and religious beliefs and practices as well as negative attitudes towards girl’s education tendered to deter female participation than their male counterpanes. The study recommended stepping up of public education campaign against retrogressive socio-cultural practices. It is imperative that collaborative efforts between the Government, communities and Non-Governmental Organizations are enhanced to ensure success of such efforts. Increasing participation of women in all economic, social and political decision making processes right from the grass root level will be vital and bound to empower them to make rational decisions in education of their children. Keywords: Socio-Economic, Learner Access, Free Primary Educatio

Assessing the factors underlying differences in achievements of farmer groups: methodological issues and empirical findings from the highlands of central Kenya

This paper examines the performance of rural-based community groups in Central Kenya and addresses the methodological issues and challenges faced in doing this. Performance measures included subjective and objective ratings of success, including more objectively verifiable measures at household and group levels, derived from a survey of 87 groups and 442 households within four sites. Empirical evidence regarding explanatory factors for relative performance levels is presented using a special sample of 40 groups involved in tree nursery activities, with both descriptive analysis and regression models. Collective action is desired and practised for many tasks. The incredible number, diversity and dynamic nature of groups make it difficult to standardise and measure achievement. Choice and level of performance measures matters in explaining differences in group achievement. Focusing on groups undertaking similar activities allows deeper analysis of performance drivers. Examining different types of groups engaged tree nurseries found that performance was not linked to any easy-to-measure group characteristic, implying that for this task dissemination need not be targeted towards particular types of groups. Assessing the factors underlying Differences in Achievements of Farmer Groups: Methodological Issues and Empirical Findings from the Highlands of Central Kenya

Cognitive Campaign Biases, Political Decisions and Consequences

The main purpose of this review study was to examine the relationship between cognitive campaign biases, political decisions and consequences. Relevant information to complete the research was obtained through a desk top research technique was adopted whereby available secondary data relating to the concept of cognitive campaign biases, political decisions and consequences was analyzed. Important information from available secondary sources including published academic documents, reports as well as other available materials online or in libraries was critically analyzed. The review study determined that cognitive campaign biases have a substantial role in determining the political choices that individuals make. In addition, it was determined that cognitive campaign biases exist primarily in the concept of framing which is the social construction of political or social movements with a positive or negative representation. The review study recommends that cognitive campaign biases should be restricted as they tend to indoctrinate people mind causing them to vote in unwise manner and thereby bringing suffering to themselves and the society at large. Keywords: Cognitive Campaign, Political Decisions, Cognitive Biases DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/13-6-05 Publication date:October 30th 202