Influence of regular peer mentor-mentee meetings on students’ academic performance in public secondary schools in Machakos Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

The global pursuit of academic excellence in secondary education faces significant hurdles in resource-constrained environments. In Kenya, high student-to-teacher ratios limit individualized support, necessitating scalable, cost-effective interventions. Peer mentorship has emerged as a high-impact strategy, yet its effectiveness is highly contingent on implementation quality, particularly the consistency of mentor-mentee engagement. This study aimed to quantitatively determine the influence of the regularity of peer mentor-mentee meetings on the academic performance of students in public secondary schools in Machakos Sub-County, Kenya. The study employed a descriptive survey design with a mixed-methods approach. A stratified sample of 338 students and 165 teachers from public secondary schools in Machakos Sub-County participated. Data were collected using structured questionnaires with 5-point Likert scales to measure perceptions of meeting regularity and its impact on academic performance. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis to test the formulated hypothesis. The findings revealed a powerful, positive, and statistically significant relationship between the regularity of mentor-mentee meetings and academic performance. The correlation was exceptionally strong from the perspective of both teachers (r = .701, p < .001) and students (r = .723, p < .001). However, the study uncovered a critical implementation gap: while over 75% of respondents acknowledged the benefits of consistency, a vast majority of students (over 75%) reported that meetings were irregular and the time allocated was inadequate. The study concludes that the consistency of mentor-mentee interaction is a foundational determinant of a peer mentorship program's success. Ad hoc or sporadic meetings yield limited impact. The findings provide a clear, evidence-based mandate for educational administrators to institutionalize mentorship by embedding regular, protected time for meetings into the school timetable. This transforms mentorship from a peripheral activity into a core component of the academic support system, offering a viable pathway to enhance student achievement in challenging educational contexts.