THE INFLUENCE OF PUPIL-TEACHER RATIO ON THE MANAGEMENT OF TEACHERS’ WORK BY HEAD TEACHERS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN UASIN GISHU COUNTY, KENYA

The Free Primary Education (FPE) policy introduced in Kenya through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in January 2003 meant that in many schools, the head teachers found themselves with more children to enroll than their school capacity. These resulted in various logistical challenges as among them being over enrolment, shortage of teachers and introduction of over age children in different classes. Based on a study conducted in Uasin Gishu County, this paper examines the influence of the challenges of teacher-student ratios on the management of teachers’ work in public primary schools by head teachers in Kenya. The study used a cross-sectional survey research design. The target population was all the 400 public primary head teachers in Uasin Gishu County. A sample size of 200 was selected using stratified random sampling technique. Data was collected using the questionnaires whose reliability was enhanced through a pilot study. Data was analyzed using descriptive (frequencies, percentages) and inferential (Chi-square) statistics with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software and presented in tables, and pie charts. The study found out that there was a high pupil/teacher ratio in public primary schools. This FPE challenge has significantly influenced the management of public primary schools by the head teachers in Uasin Gishu County. The study, therefore, recommends that the Government should train and employ more teachers to the ratio of 1:30. The findings of this study should stimulate continuous debate on FPE and also provide valuable insights that the government, stakeholders, scholars and researchers can rely on in their collective endeavour of addressing the challenges of making FPE initiative a success.