Reading Abilities of Learners in Public Primary Schools in Nandi County, Kenya

Abstract

Reading is fundamental in the acquisition of language. It builds up an important foundation for the acquisition of other language skills and plays a vital role in the learning of other subjects. There is therefore a need for learners to acquire reading proficiency. The study sought to find out the reading abilities of learners in public primary schools in Nandi County, Kenya. The study’s research question was what are the reading abilities of learners in public primary schools in Nandi County, Kenya? The study sought to test the following hypotheses; There is no significant relationship between the gender of the learner and the reading ability of the learner in public primary schools in Nandi County, Kenya, and there is no significant relationship between the category of the school (rural or urban) and the reading abilities of learners in public primary schools in Nandi County, Kenya. The study adopted a causal-comparative research design with data being collected from a sample size of 200 class six and seven learners in public primary schools in Nandi County. Data was collected using a pupils’ reading test and an observation schedule. Stratified and simple random sampling was utilised as the sampling technique, and a comparison was drawn between the reading abilities of learners in rural public primary schools and those of urban public primary schools. A further comparison was drawn between the reading abilities of boys and those of girls. The study found that learners from urban primary schools performed better than those from rural public primary schools in Nandi County. The study further found out that boys performed slightly better than girls in reading.