Effects of co-curricular activities on personality development of secondary school students in Mwea Division, Kirinyanga county

The function of education is to bring change in child behaviour and personality in a more desirable form. Development of child’s body and mind demand proper nurturing of its physical and intellectual qualities as few of the major determinants of his personality. Co-curricular activities facilitate in the development of various domains of mind and personality such as intellectual development, emotional development, social development, moral development and aesthetic development. The purpose of this study was to establish the effects co – curriculum activities on personality development of secondary school student in Mwea Division. The objectives of the study were to establish the effects of games and sport on personality development, the effects of clubs and societies on personality development, the effects of drama and music on the personality development of secondary schools student in Mwea Division. The study adopted theory of o Alexander Austin (1984) and the student development theory of Aurthur Chickering (1969). According to the involvement theory of Alexander Austin ( 1984), although there is general agreement among student affairs professional and researcher that involvement in co-curricular programs and work, particularly in school does have a positive impacts in student participants and the level of student involvement in college experience is correlated with a variety of development dimensions. Descriptive survey design was adopted in this study; the research design was relevant to this study as it involved collection of data without manipulation. The study was carried out in Mwea division. The target population for this study was all secondary schools in Mwea division. The researcher purposely selected schools within Mwea Division that incorporate co – curriculum activities in their programmes. The researcher then randomly selected 20 games teachers, and 120 students, and 2 clubs patrons. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of SPSS program. Majority of the games teachers and students agreed that co – curriculum activities have a positive effect on personality development of secondary school student in Mwea Division