The relationship between students' participation in hawking activities and academic performance in public day secondary schools in Ugunja Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

Education has been recognised as a critical component of economic and social growth in society because of its connection with social, political, and economic development. It plays a key role in reducing poverty levels, enhancing productivity, eliminating hunger, reducing mortality rates, and promoting gender equality. Because of these, developed countries have perfected their education systems to achieve their full benefits. However, most developing countries, like Kenya, are still struggling due to their economic and social statuses. This study investigated the relationship between students’ participation in hawking activities and their academic performance in Ugunja Sub-County, Kenya. The study tested the null hypothesis, Ho: There is no statistically significant relationship between students' participation in hawking activities and their academic performance in public day secondary schools in Ugunja Sub-County, Kenya, to explain this relationship. Basu and Van's theories about the economics of child labour guided the study. The study was conducted through a descriptive survey design that targeted 1498 public day secondary school students who engaged in hawking activities in Ugunja Sub-County. We used Krejcie and Morgan's formula to select a sample of 306 students, reaching them through snowball sampling. A structured questionnaire and a Document Analysis Guide (DAG) were used to collect the data, which were analysed descriptively using SPSS version 23 to arrive at means and standard deviations and inferentially using Pearson’s correlation at a 0.05 alpha level of statistical significance. The findings revealed a moderate negative correlation of r = -0.584, at p = 0.008, between students’ participation in hawking activities and their academic performance. The study concluded that hawking activities negatively influence secondary students’ academic performance. This suggests that hawking activities may hinder the achievement of the SGD's education goals if the current situation persists. The study recommends that the Government of Kenya increase the capitation of secondary schools and implement stricter rules to protect children’s right to quality basic education.