RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING PROGRAMME AND TEACHERS' INSTRUCTIONAL ATTENDANCE IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN KAKAMEGA COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Quality teaching is a key role of teachers that is highly dependent on their instructional attendance patterns. High instructional attendance rates for teachers is a major factor in the attainment of Kenya's Sustainable Development Goals, specifically the provision of quality education. It had been observed that teachers' instructional attendance in public primary schools in Kakamega County was significantly low, raising concern among educational stakeholders in the county. It was probable that post-service preparedness programmes offered to teachers by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and more specifically the entrepreneurship training programme was likely contributing to the situation under study. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between entrepreneurship training programme and teachers' instructional attendance. Anchored on the Integrative Life Planning Theory, the study adopted a correlational design. The target population comprised 10,104 TSC-employed teachers across 916 schools, from whom a sample of 385 teachers was drawn using Slovin's formula and multi-stage sampling. All 13 sub-county head teachers' association chairpersons were purposively selected as key informants. Data were collected via structured questionnaires and interview schedules. Reliability was ascertained via test-retest (r > 0.70) and Cronbach's alpha (0.794-0.892). Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS, while qualitative data were thematically analyzed using NVivo 12 (k = 0.86). A 93.4% teacher response rate yielded 360 usable questionnaires. The study null hypothesis was rejected (a = 0.05). Entrepreneurship-trained teachers showed 86% higher odds of high attendance (OR = 1.86), though only full programme completion (5-6 sessions) yielded significant effects. The study concludes that entrepreneurship training programme positively influence instructional attendance through a shared mechanism of psychological security. The study recommends full-completion entrepreneurship training with post-training mentorship, and emphasis on financial independence as a stress-reduction intervention with mobile delivery for rural schools.