DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2017.v05i04.007

Pages: 313-322

The KCSE performance of girls in Kenya has been poor as compared to that of the boys for the last five years. The purpose of this study was to find out the causes of the poor performance of girls in KCSE exam. The study was guided by Liberal Theory of Equal Opportunity, which states that each person is born with given amount of capacity and suggests that boys and girls have equal level of inbuilt potentials to perform. The study was guided by the book, “Research Methods, Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches”, by Mugenda and Mugenda. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The study population comprised of 26 principals, 337 teachers and 1260 girls in mixed secondary schools. Simple random sampling was used to sample 6 principals, 68 teachers, 126 girls and 1 Education Officer. The research instruments were questionnaires and interview guide and the researcher collected both quantitative & qualitative data. The researcher conducted pilot study to test the validity and reliability of data collecting instruments and used descriptive techniques in data analysis with the help of SPSS version 20. The data was presented in form of tables. The study revealed the major causes of poor girls’ performance to be absenteeism, lack of motivation and inadequate learning facilities. Recommendations were made to the Ministry of Education to provide enough bursaries for girls, parents to encourage girls in academics and principals to motivate both teachers and students. The findings of the study would help to improve the performance of girls in the study area and the country at large.