Influence of Informal Cross-Border Trade on Student School Attendance in Secondary School in Busia County, Kenya

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of informal cross border trade on students’ participation in education and academic achievement in the secondary schools in Busia County. The study specifically examined the various informal cross border trade activities that influence students school attendance, determined the socioeconomic factor that drive learners into participating in informal cross border trade and established the influence of informal cross border trade on students retention, completion and academic achievement. The study was guided by George Homans Rationale Choice Theory and Albert Bandura’s’ Social Learning theory. Research adopted descriptive survey research design. The targeted population comprised of 34 School Principals, 68 Guidance and Counseling teacher, 476 students, 10 Quality Assurance and Standard Officer and 10 Community leaders. Simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 389 secondary students and 59 teacher while saturated sampling technique was used for31 principals, 10 Quality Assurance and Standards Officers and 10 community leaders. The study found out that students in secondary school participate in various informal cross border trade activities that were categorized as: transport operations, retail trade, industrial related activities, service provision activities and worst forms of informal cross border trade. The study established that involvement in informal cross border trade affected students’ attendance, punctuality, discipline and retention which in turn affect their academic achievement due to lack concentration and commitment in their studies. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that informal cross border trade is a major challenge to the children’s right to access and succeed in education in Busia County, Kenya.