Predictors Of Leisure Reading Among Standard Five Pupils In Bungoma County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

This study examined the relationship between selected predictors and leisure reading amongst standard five pupils in Bungoma County Kenya. These predictors were: availability of print materials, pupils‟ interest, peer influence, teacher encouragement, and parental encouragement and sex differences. The following objectives guided the study: to determine the influence of availability of print material both at home and school on leisure reading among standard five pupils; to find out the influence of pupils‟ interest on leisure reading among standard five pupils; to examine the influence of peer influence and leisure reading among standard five pupils; to iinvestigate the influence of teacher encouragement on leisure reading among standard five pupils; to explore the influence between parental encouragement and leisure reading among standard five pupils; to explore the influence of sex differences on leisure reading among standard five pupils. The study was based on the Constructivism Theory. The study adopted an ex-post-facto research design. The target population was 14,384 standard five pupils from 164 public primary schools in Bungoma County. The study sample size was 366 pupils, out of which 300 participated in the study contributing to a response rate of 81.97%. Before data collection, a pilot study was conducted on a sample of 40 pupils. The primary data was collected through questionnaire. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson‟s product moment correlation analysis and regression analysis to assess the relationship between the variables. The study found that all the selected predictors significantly influenced leisure reading. The availability of print materials was the most significant while sex differences were the least significant predictor on leisure reading. The study recommends that teachers should establish class libraries and provide library lessons for the pupils. Parents of public primary schools in Bungoma County should invest more in purchasing appropriate leisure reading material. This will help to avert inadequacy of leisure reading materials. Finally the study recommends that the government should formulate policy guiding the implementation of leisure reading activities among public primary school in Kenya.