Title:
PARTICIPATION IN BODA BODA OPERATIONS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: THE CASE OF STUDENTS IN PUBLIC DAY SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN UGUNJA SUBCOUNTY, KENYA

Authors:
Joash Onyango Oyugi, Jane Amunga and Joseph Masinde

Abstract:
Education is a critical component of social and economic growth in any society. Many countries worldwide strive to provide quality education to their citizens. However, the high cost of education makes some countries only offer partial financial support to education at the secondary school level. This has consequently led to increased pressure on economic and other resources as individuals strive to meet the other education costs. Students in developing countries participate in activities such as Boda Boda Operations as alternative ways to finance their education. This research sought to establish the relationship between students' participation in Boda Boda Operations and their academic performance in public day secondary schools in Ugunja sub-county, Kenya. The objective of this study was to establish the relationship between students' participation in Boda Boda operations and their academic performance in public day secondary schools in Ugunja Sub-County, Kenya. Social conflict theory was used as a basis for this research. A descriptive survey research design was used to execute the study. The target population was the 1498 students in public day secondary schools within the research area who participated in Boda Boda operations regularly. The sample comprised 306 respondents, who were selected by snowball sampling technique. The data was collected using two instruments; a questionnaire for independent variables and a document analysis guide for the dependent variable. Data were analyzed descriptively using means, standard deviations, and percentages. The hypothesis was tested inferentially at a 0.05 alpha level of significance using Bivariate Pearson's Correlation. The r values Boda Boda Operations was -0.809. Results revealed a significant negative relationship between the Boda Boda operations the sampled students engaged in and their academic performance in the study area. It is recommended that The Ministry of Education should increase capitation towards funding for public day secondary school education so that students from poor backgrounds do not absent themselves from school to engage in BBO for purposes of financing their education, as this negatively affects their academic performance

Keywords:
Boda-boda, public day secondary school, students, academic performance

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37500/IJESSR.2023.6505