PART A: INTRODUCTION

Quality of education is important for any parent. Stakeholders should thus consider the various factors that affect the quality of education in schools. Parents choose to take their children to private schools instead of public schools as private schools offer quality education. Every year, the government allocates a significant amount of money to public schools yet parents are still dissatisfied with the services offered in these schools (Yaney, 1997). The high rates of private school enrolments therefore proves that the public education sector is failing especially in terms of quality. It falls to the stakeholders in the public education sector to identify the discrepancies in this field and finding solutions.

The stakeholders should take a more active role in this sector and identify areas that, from the parents perspective, these schools fall short. They should also identify what has motivated parents to enroll their children in expensive private schools. This paper, using various qualitative and quantitative methods such as descriptive research, seeks to gather the relevant data in an attempt to gather better insight about the situation. The paper will also highlight whether the parent-school, academic factors or availability affects a parents decision when choosing schools. The information will be sourced from a list of schools obtained from the education sector annually. A comparison shall then be made between an equal number of private and public schools.

It is important to also identify why despite receiving significant amounts of revenue yearly, public schools still do not offer quality education. The findings hope to prove that classroom management is a factor that greatly affects the quality of education. Consequently, the school climate and the relationship between the school and the parents are also major factors that affect the quality of education. Lastly, what can the stakeholders in the public education sector do to improve the situation in order to promote and encourage parents to enroll their children in public schools?

This paper is pilot research to enable us to acquire the right data collection method. It is imperative that with the sensitivity of the issue, the most appropriate data collection method be chosen taking into consideration all the requirements and due diligence.

Statement of the problem

Generally, private schools are preferred over public schools. This is majorly due to lack of enough facilities and competent staff. Most state-owned schools are underfunded and as such, parents prefer private schools as they offer convenience while maintaining quality especially in academic performance. The research study will try to prove the hypothesis that private schools are preferred to public schools with emphasis on the reasons behind the disparity.

Research questions

The main research question will be:

What lies behind the motivation by parents to see to it that their children join private schools, instead of public schools?

The sub-questions will be:

Is the decision by parents to ensure that their children join private schools directed by academic factors?

Is the decision by parents to see to it that their children join private schools directed by parent-school relationship?

Objectives

To ascertain whether parents prefer private schools, over public schools.

To find out the reason as to why parents prefer private schools over public schools.

Scope of the study

Twenty participants volunteered for the pilot study to test the collection and analysis method. The participants are random parents selected from the neighborhood. The questionnaire will be administered to the two participants and they will give a commentators feedback at the end of the pilot study. It is imperative to note that the pilot study will be conducted as if it were the real research undertaking. The aim of the pilot study happens to be the identification of the robustness of the data collection method and the accuracy and validity of the exercise.

PART B: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.

The total sample size used for the pilot study was 20 parents from a population of 500 parents. The margin of error was given as 4.13. A sample size of 8 Parents who take their children to public school and 12 parents who take their children to private school. In this pilot study, stratified method...…set of work-related questions. Participation is voluntary and you have the choice to participate or decline participation.

All the information collected will be used for the intended purpose and all participants will be treated with anonymity as no names will be required.

Your participation will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

PART D: DATA ANALYSIS

The pilot study analysis was relatively easy to analyze taking into consideration the few numbers of questionnaires to transcribe. Of the 20 participants, 8 were public school parents while 12 were private school parents. This making up a percentage of 40% and 60% respectively. The pie allocation was relatively close and therefore there would be no cause for alarm in terms of biasness. The data collected from the questionnaires shows that of the participants, majority earned a monthly income of above 30,000 monthly. All private school parents in the sample earned above 30, 000 showing that affordability would be among the causes of choosing a private school over a public school. To further support the point, 80% wish that they would take their children to private schools but we're constrainedby the expensive nature of private schools.

90% of the participants in private schools cited that they had made the decision to take their kids on their own and not on the kids accord. Interestingly, all of the respondents cited academic performance and adequate resources as the main factors for choosing private schools over public schools. In addition, 80% preferred private schools due to safety and reliability in terms of quality staff and transportation services.

PART E: REFLECTION

The collection method was relatively accurate and effective. Most of the feedback respondents praised the anonymity approach we used, and they hope that the study will make a step in alienating their plights. The respondents also appreciated the time effective nature of the questionnaire.

PART F: VALIDITY AND CREDIBILITY

The research study and the inherent data collection methods ensured that the questions were phrased in such a way that they would not invoke any feelings and biasness thereby withholding reliability and validity. The research study…