ABSTRACT

Kiswahili is both a national and official language in Kenya. It is taught as a compulsory discipline and examined at the end of the secondary school cycle of education in Kenya. The area of study was in Nyamira North Sub-County in Nyamira County. The Students’ performance in Kiswahili language in K.C.S.E has not been impressive nationally for a long period. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of school-based factors n performance of Kiswahili at KCSE level in public mixed secondary schools in Nyamira North Sub-County, Nyamira County. The specific objectives of the study were to: establish the administrative factors that affect the teaching and learning of Kiswahili in relation to performance, examine teacher-related factors that affect teaching and learning of Kiswahili in relation to performance, determine the curriculum-related factors that affect teaching and learning Kiswahili in relation to performance and to establish the relationship between administrative factors, teacher-related factors and curriculum-related factors in teaching and learning Kiswahili in relation to performance. The study utilized one theory: Gagne’s Theory of conditions of Teaching and Learning which states that effective teaching occurs in specific conditions. The theory deals with the instructional process within a classroom environment. The research used a descriptive research design. The target population was two hundred and twenty (220) people comprising of 55 principals, 55 Heads of Subject (languages) and110 Kiswahili teachers from all the 55 public secondary schools in Nyamira North Sub County. The study adopted purposive and simple random sampling techniques in choosing the appropriate sample for the study. There were 35 public mixed day secondary schools out of which, 17 schools were purposively selected to participate. Simple random sampling was used to select 2 Kiswahili teachers from the 17 public mixed day secondary school. Hence, a sample of 17 principals, 17 heads of subjects, and 34 teachers made the sample where principals and heads of subjects were automatic participants. Therefore, the total sample size for the study was 68 respondents. Data was collected using: questionnaires for principals, Kiswahili teachers, and interview schedule for H.O.DS’. The reliability of the instruments was established by conducting a pilot study in schools from the area not taking part in the study but identical to the ones used in the study. A reliability of 0.72 was obtained which deemed suitable for the study to proceed. The validity of the instrument was established by using the expert’s opinions from the respective departments. Both quantitative and qualitative analysis was done on the collected data. Data collected were coded and entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. The data was analyzed and presented using tables and percentages. Findings of the study indicated that most students had a positive attitude towards Kiswahili and the main problem was the failure to use the library facility and inadequate teaching and learning instructional resources, lack of a formal school language policy and use of mother tongue and sheng’ which affected their performance, where the mean for five years 2014-2018 at KCSE was a mean of 4.74 which is a D + (plus). The study also identified that teachers had a low attitude to teach the subject while others preferred to teach the second subject, which was attributed to the inability of some teachers to prepare lesson plans and adequately use the Kiswahili textbooks. Therefore, the researcher recommended that the schools should sponsor their teachers to attend capacity building seminars and workshops to acquire more techniques and share with other teachers on areas of difficulty. It also emphasized that for better performance to be realized teachers of Kiswahili need regular in-service pieces of training to prepare them for the changing dynamics of teaching language.