Influence of Teachers' Competency as a Social Determinant on Quality Education in Public Primary Schools in Machakos County, Kenya

Abstract

This study examined the way teachers' competency, viewed as a social determinant, influences the quality of education in public primary schools in Machakos County, Kenya. Although the government has expanded access through initiatives like Free Primary Education, questions persist regarding the quality of education that pupils actually receive. At the national level, Gross Enrolment Rates have risen while completion rates have fallen, indicating quality gaps that teachers' competency, as a social determinant, could help to clarify. The primary aim was to examine teachers' competency as a social determinant of quality education in these schools. The study adopted a descriptive research design, integrating both qualitative and quantitative methods. Teachers' competency served as the independent variable, measured through four indicators: mastery of the teaching content, capacity to fulfil evaluation requirements, application of teaching methodologies, and classroom management. Quality of education served as the dependent variable. The target population consisted of 3,174 individuals, comprising 403 head teachers, 2,015 Standard 8 teachers and 756 Standard 8 pupils drawn from the 403 rural public primary schools distributed across the 8 sub-counties of Machakos County. A sample of 343 respondents was drawn using purposive and simple random sampling. Standard 8 teachers filled in questionnaires, Standard 8 pupils participated in Focus Group Discussions, and observation schedules were employed alongside a review of school records completed by head teachers. The qualitative data were organized into themes and presented in narrative form. The quantitative data were cleaned, sorted, and coded, after which they were analyzed descriptively using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the relationship between teachers' competency and quality education, with Goodness-of-Fit (R-Square) and F-test statistics providing support for the analysis. The findings revealed that a change in teachers' competency, as a social determinant, led to a statistically significant change in quality education in public primary schools in Machakos County, Kenya, and that the two variables were positively and linearly related. The study concludes that teachers' competency is an essential social determinant of educational quality. It recommends that teachers enhance their competencies by participating in continuous professional development courses and workshops, and that education stakeholders invest more in teacher-focused social interventions to improve the quality of education offered to public primary school pupils.