The effect of free primary education on K.C.P.E performance of pupils in Dandora zone, Nairobi County Kenya.

Recent research statistics have shown that the free primary education introduced in 2003 had led to a large influx of pupils into primary schools. There has been an upsurge in enrolment in public primary schools resulting in a GER of 99% in 2003 (102% for girls and 97% for boys (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2005) statistics section. Since 2003, K.C.P.E mean score in public schools has stagnated at about 240 points compared to 300 points for private schools. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of F.P.E on K.C.P.E performance of pupils in Dandora zone Nairobi county Kenya. The research used descriptive survey design method. This research was conducted at Dandora zone in Nairobi County, Kenya. The target population of this study were pupils, teachers, head teachers and parents where a total of 5 head teacher’s out of the targeted 5 schools filled the research questionnaires thus having a return rate of 100%, 20 teachers out of whom 18 responded which translates to 90% and out of 400 pupils targeted, 386 responded. The following were observed; overcrowding, dusty floors, leaking roofs and poor ventilation, poor lighting and storage of water were the major constraints faced by the Schools. Inadequate living and working conditions were major problems faced by teachers in public primary schools .Schools lacked adequate furniture and space for teachers to relax during their break period. There were no separate toilets for girls and women in some primary schools. Drinking water was also an issue in these schools. The 8- 4-4 system of education came up with a lot of work for the pupils. High student teacher ratio also affected quality of teaching and linked to the physical well being of the teacher. The subjects taught and lessons covered in a day were quite many to cope with the syllabus. The findings of this study showed that all the schools were under-funded which resulted in many challenges affecting the sampled schools performance.One of the solutions forwarded to solving the challenges involved with the Free Primary education programme was for Teachers Service Commission to employ more teachers to ease the staffing problems that were very common in schools and also for the teachers to adopt alternative methods of teaching like the multi grade system to cater for the large number of pupils. Another solution to the many problems faced by the programme was to fully sensitize the parents and communities on their roles as parents so that they could chip in and assist where possible. The ministry was urged to increase the funds given to schools and also change its method of determining the amounts to be disbursed to schools. Another issue that was raised was the issue of auditing the funds that were disbursed. Since the head teachers were not conversant with the process, it was suggested that the government should provide funds to hire auditors or account clerks while the existing audit departments were requested to perform impromptu audits in schools and strict action taken against those head teachers who misuse the free primary education funds. The government was also urged to improve teachers and public officers salaries while at the same time come up with minimum education requirements for school management committee since most of them were found to be illiterate thus causing a lot of management problems