The purpose of this study was “investigating the challenges faced by students in the process of
learning Chemistry in Public Secondary Schools in Dagoretti South Constituency, Nairobi”.
The study was guided by the following research questions: How does teaching methodology
affect the process of learning Chemistry? How does teachers’ characteristic affect the process
of learning Chemistry? To what extent do instructional materials affect the process of learning
Chemistry? And how do students’ attitudes affect the process of learning Chemistry in public
secondary schools in Dagoretti South Constituency, Nairobi? The study used descriptive
survey research design and adopted the quantitative approach. The study used 125 participants
which comprised of 119 students and 6 teachers in the subject (Chemistry) drawn from Public
Secondary Schools in Dagoretti South Constituency, Nairobi. Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS) version 25 was used to analyse the data collected from the target population.
The study established that most schools have laboratories but do not carry out Chemistry
practical regularly, have libraries but the students do not have access/make use of them
regularly and teachers make use of improvisation when apparatus are not available. The study
recommends that students should be mentored to develop positive attitudes, good reading
culture, which will make them understand the concepts in Chemistry; Chemistry teachers
should make effort to further their studies and make use of group discussion from time to time.
It has also recommended that the parents should support their children by buying the study
materials, which may be required by the students. The school administration should provide
adequate learning and teaching materials like computers for projection of the lessons,
encourage the teachers to make use of charts when teaching some topics that need displaying
of the information, organise in-service training from time to time for the teachers in order to
prepare them well for current learning processes in Chemistry. Also, the administrators should
motivate the students through positive reinforcement by rewarding the best students in the
subject. Finally, the study recommends that the Government through the Ministry of Education
should increase budgetary allocation for schools and employ more Chemistry teachers to
commensurate the vast number of students studying Chemistry in the schools.