The influence of social economic background on academic performance of secondary school student council officials in Kenya

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of socio-economic background on the academic performance of student council officials in secondary schools. The study was conducted in public secondary schools in Kajiado North, Sub-County, Kajiado County. A sample size of seven (7) principals, ten (10) deputy principals and ninety-four (94) student council officials was used in the study. Data collection was done using questionnaires, after which analysis involved both descriptive and inferential statistics were done for data analysis using Statistical Package for Social Science software program (SPSS). The measure of associations was determined using Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient (r) between variables which enabled the authors to determine whether the relationship between variables was positive or negative (-1.0 to +1.0). The study findings established that the high social-economic background of student council officials significantly influenced their academic performances (r=.025; p<.05). The findings further indicated that the availability of funds enables student council officials to have access to more academic resources; availability of funds motivates student council officials to perform better in examinations, and that student council officials from high socio-economic status were competent to pursue good grades in examinations. However, the study hypothesis was partially rejected. The authors recommend that public secondary schools should try to reduce the gap between students from the high social, economic background and low backgrounds.