Attend school meetings if you want your child to perform well: Report
Standard one pupils of Loiyangalani Primary School in Marsabit County during a lesson on March 20, 2014. The school emerged as the most improved school in the country in the 2013 KCPE examination despite the challenges in the area. Photo/ JOSEPH KANYI
What you need to know:
- It was followed by Nyeri, Makueni, Garissa, Baringo and Nyandarua. Consequently, all these counties had a mean mark of 250 and above out of a possible 500. Only Garissa had a mean mark of below 130.
Plans are underway to encourage parents to attend school meetings.
This is after observations that schools which performed poorly in last year’s KCPE examination had very low attendance by parents.
Kirinyaga county, a constant top performer, had the highest number of parents taking a keen interest in their children’s education, a report says.
It was followed by Nyeri, Makueni, Garissa, Baringo and Nyandarua. Consequently, all these counties had a mean mark of 250 and above out of a possible 500. Only Garissa had a mean mark of below 130.
According to the report, Kilifi, Kitui, Kakamega, Mandera and Tana River are counties where parents have the lowest interest in the performance of their children.
The mean mark of all these counties, except Kakamega, was below 250.
During the launch of the report in Nairobi yesterday, the Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi advised parents to monitor their children.
“Our greatest responsibility as parents is our children. Even when we are looking for money, we should also prioritise visiting them during school meetings and academic clinics,” Prof Kaimenyi said.
School Card Report 2013 sampled 5,000 schools and found that where parental responsibility was above average, there was a significant improvement in marks.
The report also examines other parameters that may determine a pupil’s performance. They include school safety and protection, access to textbooks and roles of children in school.
Mandera is the worst in school safety and protection. Other unsafe counties are Tana River, Kitui, Kilifi and Kwale.
“Most schools in those areas do not have windows or secure doors. One then wonders whether the money we give headteachers for repairs and maintenance line some people’s pockets,” said Prof Kaimenyi.
The research also sampled the dropout rate in primary schools. It shows that more boys than girls abandon classes. Taita Taveta County has the largest number of boy dropouts who go out to mine.
Elgeyo Marakwet had the lowest dropout rate with only two per cent of boys dropping out of primary school.
