ISSN: 2360-7866

 International Journal of Academic Research in Education and Review
 

International Journal of Academic Research in Education and Review

Vol. 8(3), pp. 59-71. June, 2020.

ISSN: 2360-7866

DOI: 10.14662/IJARER2020.060

Review

Status of Staffing and Academic Performance in English and STEM Subjects in Selected Secondary Schools in Vihiga, Kakamega and Kisumu Counties, Kenya

Judah M. Ndiku

Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, P. O Box 190 – 50100, Kakamega

E-mail: judahndiku@gmail.com

Accepted 31 May 2020

Excellent staffing begins with hiring the right people and placing them in a position with responsibility that allows them to maximize their skills, knowledge and talent. For schools to be effective in delivering on their core mandate of teaching and learning, they are supposed to be adequately staffed with enough teachers with the right skills and competencies as they constitute the core of the education system and they are important in student performance. However there seems to be a disconnect in this in English and STEM subjects in Kenya. To ascertain the staffing in English and STEM subjects a survey was conducted in selected schools in Vihiga, Kisumu and Kakamega counties. The objective of the study was to establish the staffing levels in English and STEM subjects and how this affects academic performance.  A mixed method research approach was adopted and data was collected from school stakeholders namely; principals, teachers of the concerned subjects, Boards of Management and Parents Association representatives. Data was collected through interviews and document analysis and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Data was presented through tables, verbatim quotations and grouped themes. It was found that in the selected schools, there were more male teachers in English and STEM teachers compared to females. The schools in the study area had about 65% of the teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) with the difference, 35% employed by the School Boards. An analysis of the Teacher student ratio in each of the subjects demonstrated that there was gross understaffing in the schools in subjects. It was observed that understaffing affected effective teaching hence contributing to poor performance in these subjects. It was concluded that there were more male teachers in STEM and English, schools were not adequately staffed and teacher student ratios in English and STEM were too high. Out of the conclusions it was recommended that there was need to train more female English and STEM teachers to serve as role models for many girls, who do not take STEM related careers, there is need for the TSC to employ more teachers to relieve the schools from employing teachers and concentrate to finance other aspects in the schools. There is a need to reduce the teacher student ratio to the recommended levels of about 1:45 to enable teachers to employ more of the student centered learning methods to promote effective learning in English and STEM subjects.

Key words: Staffing, STEM education, academic performance, learning, teaching  

Cite This Article As: Ndiku JM (2020). Status of Staffing and Academic Performance in English and STEM Subjects in Selected Secondary Schools in Vihiga, Kakamega and Kisumu Counties, Kenya. Inter. J. Acad. Res. Educ. Rev. 8(3): 59-71