Form one selection process, an encouragement or a discouragement: Examining parents’ perceptions in Baringo County, Kenya

Abstract

This article reports on the findings of a study that set out to investigate the views of parents in Baringo County in Kenya regarding the form one selection process. The study adopted a quantitative survey design and participants were purposefully selected. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Response rate was 83.3 per cent. The resulting data was analysed using SPSS (Statistical Package Social Science) resulting in descriptive data. The results shows that majority of the parents were dissatisfied with the form one selection process. For instance 90 per cent (n=150), reported strongly disagreed or disagree with the process, arguing that some of the students who performed well (with higher marks) were never selected to the best schools or even to schools of their choice. Instead they were selected to poor local harambee secondary schools. The conclusion is that such a selection process discourages students from working hard.