Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate parental socio-economic contribution and its implications on pupils’ Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) performance in primary schools in Murinduko Zone, Mwea-East District. The objectives of the study included: to find out the extent to which the parents' level of income affects pupils performance, to analyze the effects of parents' level of education on pupils' KCPE performance in Murinduko zone, to investigate the manner in which the parents' political involvement affects pupils' KCPE performance in Murinduko Zone. The study employed descriptive research design while stratified random sampling was used to collect data. The data collection instruments were questionnaires, interview schedules and observations. The data was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using SPSS statistical package. The study was modeled by Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of need theory. The study established that most of the learners hailed from poor backgrounds and hence affected the KCPE performance. Most of the parents had attained only the primary level of education and were primary school drop-outs. Political wrangles between parents and the administration also affected the performance of pupils. Child labour is very prevalent and had a very great influence in the KCPE performance where children are exposed to it in order to subsidize family income. The main recommendations include; the government should continue offering Free Primary Education (FPE) and increase funding for building facilities like computer laboratories and libraries, public private partnership should be encouraged to increase resources in the primary education sector, the government should also consider giving stipends to pupils in hard to reach areas such as those in slums and marginalized zones this area so as to reduce drop-out rates and boost participation rates, need to enact and enforce legislation so as to curb child labor.
