Strategies used by Teachers to Earn Extra Income during COVID-19 Pandemic in Nandi South Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

This study investigated the strategies used by teachers to earn extra income during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nandi South Sub County. The study was guided by the following questions: what are the sources of extra income of teachers during COVID-19 pandemic?; what are the economic challenges faced by teachers during COVID-19 pandemic?; Is there a relationship between teachers’ gender and amount of income earned from extra sources during COVID-19 pandemic?; Is there a the relationship between teachers’ extra income before and during COVID-19 period? Concurrent Mixed Design was used where cross-sectional survey design was used to conduct the quantitative study and Phenomenological design was used to conduct qualitative study. The target population of the study was all the teachers in Nandi South Sub-County. Both simple random sampling and snow ball sampling techniques were used. A structured questionnaire and an interview guide were used to collect the data. A research expert was requested to examine the validity of the research instruments’ results. Piloting of the instruments was also done. Test-retest method was used to test for the reliability. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyse quantitative data while data from the interview guide were coded into themes categories, analysed and presented in paragraphs. A total of 60 teachers participated in the study. 63.3% of the teachers were male and 36.7% were female. All the teachers who participated in the study practice farming as an extra source of income; 56.7% and 63.3% of the teachers practice cattle rearing and poultry keeping respectively; 23.3% of the teachers practice shop keeping; 20 % of the teachers do online business; 16.7% of the teachers sell groceries while 6.7% in boda boda business and one teacher is in business groups. The most popular extra income generating activities to teachers are; cattle rearing and poultry keeping. Insufficient finance to provide for family needs and low sales are the to be major challenges faced by teachers. From the hypotheses tested, it was established that teachers’ income from extra sources is higher during Covid-19 period than before Covid-19 and that the amount of extra income earned by teachers is independent of gender. The study recommends that other teachers and members of the public maximise on the potential areas such as farming, cattle rearing and poultry keeping and they should also enrol for online businesses to widen their income. The findings of this study will advise teachers and other members of the public on the potential areas to invest, for them to earn extra income.