The Relationship between Educational Aspirations and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) Performance in Mombasa County, Kenya

Abstract

The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) performance plays an important role in determining the educational pathway of students. This examination is done in Kenya at the end of four years of secondary schooling. Those who excel are able to join institutions of higher learning and become valuable human resource who are able to play their rightful role in nation building. The declining level of KCSE performance in Mombasa County is a cause for concern among education stakeholders; the study therefore sought to address this concern by finding out if there is a relationship between educational aspiration and KCSE performance. The study was carried out in Mombasa County. Mombasa County is located in the southeastern part of the coast region of Kenya. It is the economic hub not only of the coastal region but also of the entire nation because it is the gateway to East Africa. Educational aspiration is expressing a desire to achieve in the academic domain. High educational aspiration in this study is when students show a desire to achieve in school academic performance and strive for progression whereas low educational aspiration indicates that a student shows no desire to achieve in school academic performance and progression for higher education. Education Aspiration level was measured by using educational aspiration Likert scale. The study adopted correlation research design and exploratory research design. It was conducted in Mombasa in all the six sub counties namely Mvita, Kisauni, Nyali, Jomvu, Changamwe and Likoni. The target population had 8648 form four students in 126 secondary schools, 126 academic Masters and Mistresses and six sub county Directors of education. Purposive sampling was used to select 864 students 21 academic Masters/Mistresses and six sub county Directors of Education. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to divide the student population to private and public. The two categories were further stratified to sub groups that included; boys' day schools, girls' day schools, boys' boarding schools, girls' boarding schools, mixed day schools and mixed boarding schools. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Quantitative data was analyzed with aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 20 and qualitative data applied thematic analysis Results from correlation analysis on the relationship between educational aspiration and KCSE performance (r=0.404, N=864. p<0.001) illustrates a positive and significant relationship between educational aspiration and students KCSE performance