KENYA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ CHARACTER EDUCATION PERCEPTION ON BEHAVIOUR

Abstract

Purpose: Character education is a process of teaching people how to behave morally. This study probed how public and private university students in Kenya perceive character education in the university and its possible role in influencing positive behaviour. The examined student character education attributes included universal moral principles of honesty, responsibility and self-discipline; whereas student behaviour was described by property use, examination writing and substance use.

Methodology: A descriptive survey design was used for the target population (54,864) of undergraduate students. A sample size of 381 students was randomly selected and information on the study variables obtained using a questionnaire. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was 0.813. The level of significance was alpha 0.05.

Findings: The findings of the study were that students’ character education perception was significantly higher in private universities compared to public universities. The influence of student character education on the university students’ behaviour was significantly positive (β=.909, p=.000) regardless of year of study and gender of the students.

Recommendations: The major recommendation of the study is that Kenya universities should introduce character education in the curriculum with the aim of improving students’ behaviour and quality of graduates.