Relationships between school factors and students’ choice of agriculture in secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

Subject choice leading to post-secondary school career choice for school leavers in Kenya has become more challenging in the light of competition for admissions to relevant University, tertiary institutions’ courses and access to job opportunities. Many students miss relevant placement for agricultural courses and employment opportunities due to wrong subject combinations in secondary school. The problem that was investigated was the reasons for the decline in enrolment in Agriculture subject in secondary schools especially in Nakuru and whether there was a relationship between the low enrolment and variables like; performance of agriculture subject in the previous KSCE results, availability of teaching and learning resources and the category of the school on the students’ choice of agriculture in secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya. The study used an ex-post facto research design. The target population composed of 7955 Form Three agriculture students and 18 agriculture teachers in Nakuru County. A sample of 367 Form Three agriculture students was selected using stratified random sampling technique. The different school categories formed the strata. Two sets of questionnaires were developed for the study. One set was used to collect data for the students and the other set was used to collect data for teachers. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Pearson Moments Correlations (r) and Spearman’s (Rho) tests were used to examine and analyze relationships among study factors. Hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha levels. The study revealed that several factors including schools are related to students’ choice of agriculture subject. The study recommended that the subject should have relevant resources and facilities to reflect its practical nature and promote subject choice. The findings of the study may be useful to curriculum developers and policy planners in developing policies and strategies that will increase and sustain secondary school students’ interest and participation in agriculture subject in Nakuru County and the entire country, Kenya.