The Effects of Single Parent Families on Students in Selected Public Day Secondary Schools in Mombasa County

Abstract

This study was based on the premise that single-parent family structures are on the rise in Kenyan among women due to various circumstances. The study explored the effects of single-parent families on students in four selected public day secondary schools in Mombasa County from the Island and its outskirts. The objectives of the study were; to examine the effects of single parenting on academic performance of students from single-parent families in secondary schools in Mombasa County, to explore the behavioural problems students from single-parent families in secondary school in Mombasa County faced, and to determine the challenges students from single-parent families in secondary school in Mombasa had. The study sample was drawn from the students of single parents in the day secondary schools in Mombasa County where in total 182 students participated by filling questionnaire. The interview was conducted with 24 class teachers in charge of form 2 up to form 4. The data collected from questionnaire was analysed using software package statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20, while the interview was analysed according to themes. The study revealed that some of the students from single-parent families had low academic performance though there were exceptional cases of high academic achievers. The study also exposed that there were a lot of drug use among students in secondary schools in Mombasa County with bhang being commonly used. The study went further to reveal that some of the students from single-parent families were in disciplined, aggressive, and truants. The study discovered that some of the students discriminated students from single-parent families in school making them feel inferior which led to their being reserved in class. The study went further to reveal that some of single parents had low income and hardly visited the schools for academic clinic.