Motivational Levies and Academic Achievement in Public Day Primary Schools in Nyamira County, Kenya

Abstract

The study dealt with the effect of motivational levies on academic achievement in public day primary schools in Nyamira County. The study explored teacher motivation levies, academic tour levies and pupil motivation levies. The study adopted the ex – post facto research design. The target population for this study comprised of 392 public day primary school head teachers in Nyamira County. A sample of 198 head teachers were selected using Slovin’s formula from the target population. The study used both a questionnaires and documentary analysis guide for data collection. The data collected were analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics (mean, frequencies and percentages) and inferential statistics using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient and Multiple Linear Regression. The study findings of the data analysis revealed that pupils’ motivational levies are statistically significant, with a partial regression coefficient of b = 0.0036, t = 2.75, and p = 0.007, indicating that an increase in pupils’ motivation is associated with a significant improvement in academic achievement. Specifically, the coefficient for pupils’ motivation levy (b = 0.004) showed that an increase in the levy by one Kenya shilling results in an improvement in the KCPE mean by 0.004 points. In practical terms, when a parent pays Kshs 100 for pupil motivation, the school’s KCPE mean will increase by 0.4 points. On the other hand, the regression coefficients for academic tours (b = 0.0003, t = 0.64, p = 0.520) and teachers’ motivation (b = -0.0007, t = -0.82, p = 0.414) were not statistically significant at p < .05. This indicates that there is no evidence to suggest that academic tours and teachers' motivation have a statistically significant impact on school’s academic achievement. Therefore, the study concludes that while pupils' motivational levies significantly influence academic achievement, teachers’ motivational levies and academic tours levies do not have a statistically significant effect on improving performance.