EFFECT OF FREE DAY SECONDARY SCHOOL PROGRAMME ON STUDENTS’ ACCESS TO AGRICULTURE SUBJECT INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MBITA SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

The Free Day Secondary School Programme, launched in Kenya in 2008, aimed to promote universal education agriculture subject included by 2015, as outlined in Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005. This initiative sought to alleviate the financial burden on parents and improve access to vital subjects like agriculture, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set for 2030. Despite substantial government investment, access to agricultural instructional materials in public secondary schools within Mbita Sub-County remains alarmingly low, and the underlying reasons for this deficiency are still unclear. Additionally, there is a lack of research exploring the impact of the Free Day Secondary School Programme on agriculture teaching/learning resource availability and its effect on student participation in agriculture classes. The purpose and objective of this study is to fill these gaps by analyzing the effects of the Free Day Secondary School Programme on students' access to agricultural instructional materials and assessing the relationship between these resources and student engagement in agriculture subjects in Mbita Sub-County. Highlighting this relationship is crucial for understanding how improved access to resources can enhance student participation and success in agricultural education. This study was anchored on the Systems theory. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select a sample of 106 respondents comprising of 4 Quality Assurance and Standard Officers, 51 principals and 51 teachers of agriculture from 51 sampled public secondary schools in Mbita Sub County. All the 4 Quality Assurance and Standard Officers within Mbita sub county were picked because all of them could easily be reached by the researcher. A comprehensive cross-sectional survey design was employed, involving 106 respondents from 51 selected public secondary schools. Data were gathered through face-to-face interviews using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire, which achieved a reliability coefficient of 0.08. The instruments for this study were validated by experts from the Department of Agriculture and Environmental studies of Rongo University. The panel ensured that items included in the questionnaire adequately measured the degree to which the data collected would represent concepts that cover content and face validity. The recommendations and suggestions of the experts were used to make the final draft of the instruments. Descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, and correlational techniques were used in the data analysis. The results clearly show that the Free Day Secondary School Program is positively correlated with higher agricultural student enrollment (t = 17.5826, p < 0.0000), better access to agricultural learning resources (t = 6.9022, p < 0.0000), and increased agricultural activity participation (t = 13.1437, p < 0.0000). In light of these compelling findings, it is essential to enact legislation that supports the continuation of the Free Day Secondary School Program. Moreover, the government should prioritize increasing funding to effectively achieve the program's objectives.