Socio-cultural factors affecting academic performance in Busia County, Kenya

Parental characteristics play an important role in students’ academic performance. These factors are usually measured by education, employment-status and the income of an individual to determine an individual’s livelihood. The study objective was to establish parental socio-cultural practices that influence students’ academic performance in Public Day Secondary schools in Teso North Sub- County. A cross-sectional survey was carried out in Teso North Sub-County, Busia County, Kenya. Both primary and secondary data was collected. The tools for primary data included questionnaire, interview schedules and Focus Group Discussions while secondary data was collected using document analysis guide. The target population was 4,238 who included students, parent representatives, principals, form four class teachers and Sub-County director of education; with a sample size of 351. Purposive, proportionate and simple random sampling techniques were employed. Validity was checked through consultation with experts and reliability coefficient of 0.788 was established. Piloting was done in the neighboring Teso South Sub-County because it possessed similar characteristics as Teso North Sub- County. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze data using SPSS version 25 and presented in tables, charts and graphs. The study identified initiation rites, property rights, wife inheritance and polygamy as having negative influence on academic performance. These socio-cultural practices contributed to about 82.5% of student achievements in Busia County.  The study recommends stake holders in education to create awareness to parents on the negative effects of socio-cultural practices that affect academic performance and find interventions to reverse the declining trends in students’ performance in National Examinations.