Influence of 2007 post election violence level on emotional wellbeing and academic performance among secondary school students in Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

Political violence has negative influences on peoples’ wellbeing. The emotional wellbeing of people is of great significance if they are to remain healthy. This is particularly so with the 2007 Post-Election Violence (PEV) that was experienced in Kenya. Nakuru County was oneof the areas that were affected by 2007 PEV. The study aimed at establishing the influence of PEV level on emotional wellbeing and academic performance of secondary school students in Nakuru County, Kenya. Molo, Njoro and Kuresoi districts were adversely affected. The 2007 PEV claimed about 1,200 lives, others got injured and over 350,000 got displaced while property of unknown value was destroyed. Among the displaced were 1331 students from Molo, Njoro and Kuresoi. An ex-post-facto causal comparative research design was utilized in this study. Nakuru County had 210 secondary schools with a population of 12,189 form four students and 210 teacher counsellors. Molo, Njoro and Kuresoi had 75 secondary schools and a population of 6,380 form four students and 75 teacher counsellors. Purposive sampling was used to select the 3 districts that were adversely affected by PEV. Simple random sampling was used to select 187 boys and 173 girls for the study. Two questionnaires were used to collect data from the students and teacher counsellors. The instruments were pilot tested using 30 students and 30 counsellors from Naivasha District, that experienced similar events. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to establish the reliability coefficients of the research instruments. The instruments were considered reliable after they yielded reliability coefficients of 0.72 and 0.76 respectively. Frequencies, percentages and mean were used to analyse descriptive statistics while ANOVA was used to establish the influence of PEV on emotional wellbeing and academic performance of the students. The t-Test was used to determine gender differences in emotional wellbeing and academic performances. All the hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance. Data was analysed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 17.0 for windows. The study reported that the 2007 PEV led to increased emotional concerns such as anxiety, low selfesteem and lowered academic performance among the secondary school students. It was established that the female students were more affected emotionally than their male counterparts. There were no statistically significant gender differences in academic performance. The research recommended that the secondary school students who experienced PEV be provided with more enhanced counselling services. There is need for the Ministry of Education to avail more finances for guidance and counselling departments and enhance security.