Influence of Academic Engagement in Public Secondary Schools in Eradication of Banditry in Tiaty East Sub-County, Baringo County, Kenya

Abstract: This study sought to find out the influence of academic engagement in public secondary schools in eradication of banditry in Tiaty Sub-County, Baringo County. It aimed to answer the following research question: How does academic engagement influence eradication of banditry in Tiaty Sub- County, Baringo County? The study was anchored on the Social Leaning Theory by Albert Bandura (1977). Cross sectional survey research design was adopted. The target population for the study was 10 principals and 3000 students from 10 public secondary schools in Tiaty Sub county. The study used purposive sampling to select 10 principals, census sampling technique to select 10 schools and Yamane’s formula was used to select 353 students. Furthermore, stratified sampling technique was adopted to select 35 students from each school. The study used questionnaires and interview guides to collect data. Analysis was done using descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and thematic analysis. Results revealed that there was a moderate, positive, and statistically significant relationship between academic engagement and eradication of banditry, r (348) = .42, p < .05. These results were consistent with qualitative data findings. These results indicate that an increase in student academic engagement results in a significant decrease in banditry. The study recommends that all stakeholders should make efforts to intensify campaigns to have more students engaged academically in order to attract them to school and stay away from banditry. This will go a long way in eradicating banditry in Tiaty Sub County and other regions with the same problem. Key Words: Eradication of Banditry, Academic engagement, Public Secondary Schools