Investment in Sports Talent Management Resources and Pupils’ Participation in Sports in Public Primary Schools in Kenya

Abstract

Schools which are expected to provide the necessary institutional framework that can support talent development to its highest potential through a holistic learning framework. Sporting talents have, however, for the most part remained poorly managed at the school level where there is evidence that sports subjects are usually less emphasized compared to academic subjects. With the introduction of the competence based curriculum in Kenya in 2017, investments in talent management have demonstrably increased in terms of physical education in public primary schools across the country budget allocation per child per year from Kshs. 11.60 in 2016 for to Kshs. 38.68 in 2019. Therefore, the central question this study sought to answer was whether this investment was adequate to improve pupils participation in sports activities in primary schools in the country. School Wide Enrichment Model guided the investigations. Concurrent triangulation design was used targeting 271 school heads and teachers in charge of games from 68 public primary schools within Nairobi County, Kenya selected through systematic random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) software. The results revealed that most schools in Kenya were still under resourced in terms of sports facilities and the existing ones were poorly maintained. The study, therefore, recommends that there is need for the schools managements to increase investment in sports resources specifically outdoor and indoor facilities and their maintenance.