Perceptions of stakeholders’ on factors influencing students’ enrolment in technical and vocational subjects in public secondary schools in Kisumu East, Central, North, West and Seme sub counties, Kenya: An analytical study

Technical and Vocational subjects have remained an integral aspect of the educational sector and is seen as the pivot upon which economic growth and development lies. Owing to its importance, enrolment into these subjects is very crucial in measuring the pace at which skills, attitudes and knowledge are given to the students. However, in Kisumu East, Central, North, West and Seme Sub Counties, enrolment in these subjects has been low since they were introduced in large scale in secondary schools in 1985.This low enrolment may lead to underutilization of the available educational such as teachers, workshops, books and equipment. The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of Stakeholders’ on factors influencing students’ enrolment in Technical and Vocational subjects in Public Secondary schools in Kisumu East, Central, North, West and Seme Sub Counties in Kisumu County. The study was undertaken from the perspectives of three key stakeholders- the students who enrolled for Technical and Vocational subjects, Teachers teaching any of the Technical and Vocational subjects and Head Teachers from schools where the data was collected. Objectives of the study were to; establish students’ perceptions on factors influencing their enrolment, establish their attitudes towards Technical and Vocational subjects and to establish the Head teachers and teachers’ perception on factors influencing students’ enrolment Technical and Vocational Subjects. The study established that; job prospect and Government policy were perceived by all the stake holders as factors that influence enrolment for Technical and Vocational subjects and were ranked first and second respectively. Contrary to previous studies, students had positive attitude towards Technical and Vocational subjects with mean of 3.008 on five point Likert type scale. Perception on parental influence as an enrolment factor was ranked low among all the stakeholders. The study concluded that Job prospect influence students’ enrolment in Technical and Vocational subjects and that student have positive attitudes towards the Technical and Vocational subjects and this is not tied to enrolment. The study recommended that government should establish vocational centres attached to secondary schools to facilitate the professional orientation of students with a view of improving enrolment and focusing on both formal and informal employment. The findings of this research are of great importance to the Education Policy makers in the Government and Researchers.