Problem gambling and academic performance among students in public secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya

Investigating the relationship between problem gambling and academic performance among public secondary school students in Kenya's Nakuru County was the goal of the study. A convergent parallel design was used in the study. Public high schools, quality assurance officers, principals and deputy principals, students, and members of disciplinary committees made up the target population. The research included a sample size of 1023, which included 769 students from 49 public high schools, 6 Quality Assurance and Standards officers (QASOs), 49 principals, the same number of Deputy Principals, and 150 teachers who are disciplinary committee members. The results of the study showed a strong correlation between students' academic achievement and their level of gambling. Furthermore, the degree of student gambling activity has a big impact on attendance at school. The study makes recommendations by looking into the reasons why students miss school. In order for teachers and school administrators to effectively lower the number of pupils who participate in gambling, their capability must be increased. The results show that problem gambling has a negative impact on students' academic performance, and that this relationship is significantly influenced by the degree of the problem. The study recommends schools to identify problem gamblers amongst students for counselling and referral services. Authentic review of monitoring of class attendance for students in day schools in order to identify students slipping in gambling at early stages and intervene appropriately. Keywords: Problem gambling, students’ academic performance, gambling, class attendance, adolescents