Relationship between Class Repetition and Academic Performance among Lower Primary Schoolers in Kenya

Abstract

Class repetition is often touted as one of the way of improving academic performance of pupils in schools, however its effect on learning outcomes is not clearly known. Despite calls against its use, repetition continues to be used as a strategy of improving academic performance in both private and public schools in Kenya. The purpose of the study was to establish the influence of class repetition on academic performance of lower primary school pupils in Kenya and examine the extent to which this variable affected academic performance. The study utilized ex-post-facto correlation research design to gather the data about repeaters drawn from a sample of 14 public primary schools in Nyahururu Sub County, Kenya. Data was analyzed descriptively using means, frequencies and standard deviation. Hypothesis was tested at the .05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that repetition was a phenomenon that was commonly practiced in schools within the study area and that there were more boys’ repeaters (63%) compared to girls (37%) repeaters. The findings further revealed that the number of class repetitions in same or different classes did not improve performance of the learners (p˃.05) and that the relationship between the number of repetition in same class and repeaters performance after repetition were not statistically significant, r (295) = -.063; p˃.05. In view of these findings, the study recommended that the ministry of education develops a policy to outlaw repetition of learners as the practice does not add value to the achievement of learning outcomes and that comprehensive mechanisms of evaluating learners’ achievement of learning outcomes be developed rather than over relying on classroom tests