The Influence of Age of Pupils on the Management of Pupils’ Discipline by the Headteachers in Public Primary Schools in Uasin Gishu County

Abstract

The Free Primary Education (FPE) policy was introduced through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in January, 2003 in Kenya. The public, especially poor families were happy that they could enroll their children who may not have had a chance to study due to lack of school fees. The response was overwhelming as was expected in a country where substantial proportions of children were out of school. In many schools, the headteachers had more children to enroll than their school capacity. More so, since the Government had not given an age limit for enrolment, even those who were „over- age‟ were enrolled and this worsened the congestions in schools. Due to minimal time in preparing to implement the policy directive, various logistical challenges arose. These included among others, over enrolment, shortage of physical facilities, teachers, teaching and learning materials and introduction of over age children in different classes. This paper investigates the influence of pupil‟s age on the disciplinary management of public Primary schools by headteachers in Uasin Gishu County. The study used a cross- sectional survey design to enable the author collect data from the headteachers in order to determine the current status of their experiences and opinions with respect to one or more variables. The study was carried out in Uasin Gishu County of Kenya with a target population of 400 public Primary headteachers. A sample size of 200 was selected using stratified random sampling technique. Questionnaires were used in data collection. The study found that there was presence of over-age pupils in all the classes of the public Primary schools and that it had influenced discipline management in public Primary schools. The study recommends that, the Government should admit the correct ages of pupils in all the classes and enroll adult learners in adult education Programme.