Factors Influencing Academic Performance and Free Primary Education in Eldoret Municipality

Abstract The study sought to investigate the influence of personal, home and school-based factors on academic performance. The study attempted to answer the question: "Which personal factors, home factors, and school based factors are perceived to be major contributors to academic performance of pupils in public primary schools"? To identify the factors, the study was based on social learning theory. The researcher used stratified sampling technique to select eight public primary schools from the 18 public schools in Eldoret Municipality. Using systematic sampling technique, 300 participants were selected to participate in the study. An ex post facto research design was used. The main instrument of data collection was pupils' questionnaire. Through pilot study and by using test-retest technique, the reliability of the instrument was found to be r = 0.78. The collected data was analyzed using mean scores and standard deviations. From the analysis of the participants' responses, it was found that sex, family size and learning resources were the factors that enhanced good academic performance of pupils. Also, it was perceived that school-based factors contributed to good performance of the pupils. In addition, male pupils were academically superior to their female counterparts. In view of these findings, it was recommended that the Kenyan government should provide activities and programmes geared towards improving the parents' understanding the importance of investing in children's education. This would enable the family and the nation at large to enjoy the benefits that accrue from educating a child