Teacher and Student Retention in Secondary Schools of Seventh - Day Adventist Church in East Kenya Union Conference

Abstract

The study aimed at establishing the factors which influence low retention of teachers and student in secondary schools of SDA church EKUC. It employed a concurrent mixed methods research design and adopted an exploratory approach using a descriptive survey. This was to investigate the factors that influenced the retention of teachers and students in EKUC schools .out of the twenty secondary schools in the union , the researcher targeted eleven which sat for the national exams in 2008 .the subject of the study included teachers, students principals , the conferences/ field educational directors and BoM chairpersons. The study was based on expectancy theory of motivation which states that certain behaviors by the relevant authorities should lead to high retention of students and teachers. Teachers should be availed bursary funds for career advancements , given incentives for motivation and made to believe that they are appreciated by school administration .The administration should assist needy students to get financial support. The findings showed that two independent variables (School administration and motivation strategies) commonly contributed to retention of teachers and students. School administration was the most common factor which contributed to low retention, among the two groups. It was found important to carry out exhaustive studies on each of the study variables for comparative purpose in public schools and undertake exploratory and in-depth studies on the same