Government and parents’ contribution to co-curricular resources in enhancement of girls’ academic performance in Kenya: a case study of siaya county

The government of Kenya in partnership with religious sponsors and parents provide financial, human and physical resources to enhance education of girls and boys in schools. However with all these measures in place, girls’ performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations was just average and below that of boys in Siaya County for the years 2011 to 2013. The mean scores were 6.21, 6.90 and 6.05 compared to those of boys which were 7.73, 7.73 and 7.56. The girls’ performance in Siaya County was also below that of neighbouring Kisumu County whose mean scores were 7.46, 7.02, and 6.98. Objective of the study was to determine the government’s and parents’ contribution to co-curricular resources in enhancement of girls’ academic performance. The study established that the government and parents contributed 53.3% and 78.6% respectively of the variation in co-curricular resources in enhancement of girls’ academic performance as signified by coefficient .533 and .786 respectively. Regression analysis revealed that government and parents contributions were significant predictors of girls’ academic performance. The study concluded that parents’ contribution was moderate and had the highest influence on girls’ academic performance. The government’s contribution were moderate and the influence on girls’ performance was high. The study recommended that the government’s and parents’ should improve on their contributions to enhance the girls’ academic performance. The findings of this study are significant to government’s and parents’ in education by informing them in areas that require review of their efforts and strategies for enhancement of girls’ academic performance.