THE ROLE OF SCHOOL ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT IN HARNESSING EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT IN KENYA: A CASE STUDY OF MATHIRA CONSTITUENCY IN NYERI

Abstract

Having had a history of excellent academic performance before, it is possible that Mathira constituency can redeem its former standard to be the “place of education” that it was in the 1970’s to 1990’s. The general objective of this study was to assess the role of school alumni engagement in harnessing education development in Kenya by focusing on Mathira constituency in Nyeri County. The study sought to assess how engaging school alumni in mentorship programs, funding of school activities and engagement in school governance as well as performance monitoring influences this effort. The literature review focused on the views and opinions from other authors and previous studies undertaken on this topic. Descriptive research method was used in this study. The target population was 471 teachers, 1942 students (class 8 and form four), 993 alumni of 22 public schools in Mathira constituency between July and August 2015. The study also included the ministry of education officials and other education stakeholders in the area. Stratified random sampling was used to select the sample size of 346 respondents. Primary data was collected by use of semi-structured questionnaires and interviews. Secondary data on the performance of schools was obtained from the ministry of education offices in the constituency. The collected quantitative data was edited and coded into a statistical package (Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21) for analysis. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze quantitative data. The analyzed data was then presented in tables and figures. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data and the results were presented in the form of prose. A multivariate regression analysis was also carried out to determine the relationship between the dependent variable and the four independent variables. The study established that mentorship programs, funding of school activities, alumni engagement in school governance as well