A new survey has shown high level of absenteeism among Form Two learners in 30 counties targeted for the Secondary Education Quality Improvement Programme (SEQIP).

According to the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) Monitoring Learner Achievement (MLA) Form Two midline study 2021, about 63 per cent of the students sampled reported to have been absent during school term.

“At least 98.7 per cent of the teachers reported to have cases of student absenteeism in their schools while 75.5 per cent of the principals indicated to have incidents of student absenteeism in their schools,” shows the report.

Some of the causes of absenteeism included lack of school fees, sickness, early pregnancies, lack of sanitary towels for girls, indiscipline, fear of exams, drug and substance abuse and taking care of siblings.

Other reasons given were household chores, fear of being punished, radicalisation or extremism as well as disability related issues.

As far as effects are concerned, 73 per cent of teachers indicated that frequent student absenteeism, to a large extent, affected syllabus coverage.

Similarly, students who were absent from school during the term scored lower points.

The survey also sampled cases of dropouts, which showed that the highest rate occurs in form two and affected more girls than boys.

Indiscipline in schools

According to the report, form two dropout rate stood at 54.5 per cent, financial reasons at 28.9 per cent while early marriages and low academic achievement stood at 26.6 and 13 per cent, respectively.

On the other hand, the highest form 2 boys dropout as reported by principals was due to finances at 31.7 per cent, truancy at 26.9 per cent, low academic performance at 28.2 per cent and drug and substance abuse at 16.6 per cent.

On indiscipline in schools, the survey shows that the prevalence in schools is on an all-time high, standing at 95.7 per cent.

At least 37.9 per cent of the teachers reported absenteeism as a very common form of indiscipline.

“Principals reported the following as form of indiscipline often experienced in school, lateness at 38.1 percent, premarital sex at 25.5 per cent and truancy at 23.2 per cent,” states the findings of the survey.

It was established that guidance and counselling was the most preferred method of enforcing discipline in schools, with 74 per cent of the teachers citing that they were often used to it while a partly 0.4 per cent of the principals reported to have a Teachers Service Commission (TSC) appointed professional counsellors.

On implementation of curriculum, the survey stated that the highest inhibitor is insecurity at 72.5 per cent, sickness at 60.7 percent, drug and substance abuse at 60.1 percent while natural calamities at 59.7 percent.

As far as learner achievement is concerned, the KNEC survey showed that despite slight improvement in specific areas of assessed subjects, low outcomes especially in higher order cognitive skills continue to be observed.

“None of the subjects assessed attained the expected mean of 40 per cent. There was a slight improvement in all science subjects from the baseline to midline. Gender and regional disparities in performance persists,” the report indicates.

The survey established that some of the reasons that influence learner achievement include student absenteeism, inadequate resources, parental engagement, principals’ professional qualifications, teachers’ level of education, mastery of English as a language of instructions as well as competencies in Mathematics in order to improve learning outcomes in Sciences.

Inadequate infrastructure

It also showed that the textbook ratio has improved in all assessed subjects with English at 73.7 per cent, Chemistry at 72.8 per cent, Kiswahili at 72.3 per cent, Mathematics at 65.4 per cent, Biology at 65.1 per cent and Physics stood at 62.7 per cent.

The study has also shown unavailability of resources in schools.

It indicates that 72.2 and 66 per cent of the principals reported that computer laboratories and school libraries were not available.

“Inadequate infrastructure affects ICT literacy, nurturing talents, innovation and enquiry based learning,” states the report.

Similarly, principals reported a 30.7 percent prevalence of class repetition, with the highest rate reported at form four in 2020.

“There were slightly more boys than girls repeating at form four, three and form one. At form two, slightly more girls than boys repeated.”

Reasons for repeating included transfer from other schools, demand by parents, chronic absenteeism Covid-19 among other factors.

It also established that the Teacher Performance Appraisal Development (TPAD) is enhancing efficiency in curriculum delivery.