FINANCIAL LITERACY TRAINING AS A CORRELATE OF TEACHERS' INSTRUCTIONAL ATTENDANCE IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN KAKAMEGA COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Instructional attendance defined as teachers' sustained physical presence in, and active engagement with, lesson preparation, delivery, learner assessment and discipline is widely recognized as a major correlate of quality teaching and learning in public primary schools. Despite growing Teachers Service Commission (TSC) investment in post-service welfare programmes, there remains limited empirical evidence on whether such programmes improve instructional attendance, a gap acute in Kakamega County, Kenya, where a 2025 quality assurance assessment found only 38% of expected instructional time was utilized. It was probable that TSC's financial literacy training programme contributed to this situation. This study sought to establish whether TSC financial literacy training is associated with teachers' instructional attendance in the county's public primary schools. The study adopted a correlational design within a convergent parallel mixed-methods framework, anchored on the Integrative Life Planning Theory. The target population comprised 10,104 TSC-employed teachers from 916 public primary schools across the county's 13 sub-counties. Applying Slovin's formula at 95% confidence yielded a sample of 385 teachers via multi-stage stratified sampling by sub-county and location; 13 head teachers' association chairpersons served as key informants. Data were collected through teacher questionnaires and head-teacher interviews. Validity and reliability were established through expert review, piloting, test-retest analysis (r > 0.70), and a Cronbach's alpha of 0.879. A 93.4% response rate yielded 360 usable questionnaires, and all 13 head teacher interviews achieved thematic saturation. Quantitative data were analyzed using t-tests, Pearson correlation, and Hayes' PROCESS macro (Model 4, 5,000 bootstrap resamples); qualitative data were analyzed thematically using Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-phase approach, with findings integrated at interpretation. Ethical considerations that include informed consent, voluntary participation and confidentiality of the source of information were adhered to throughout the study. Findings revealed that 43.3% of teachers had attended financial literacy training, and trained teachers recorded significantly higher mean instructional attendance (77.2%) than untrained teachers (70.6%) (t(358) = 3.42, p = .001, Cohen's d = 0.40). Mediation analysis showed that 87.5% of this effect operated indirectly through reduced financial stress, with the direct pathway statistically non-significant (β = .022, p = .648). The null hypothesis was therefore rejected, confirming a statistically significant relationship between financial literacy training and instructional attendance, an effect stronger among rural teachers and those with higher post-training knowledge retention. The study concludes that financial literacy training improves instructional attendance primarily by alleviating teachers' financial anxiety rather than through direct application of financial skills, and recommends that TSC reframe such training as a stress-reduction intervention, incorporating practical action-planning, peer support, and mobile delivery models to reach financially vulnerable rural teachers.