Abstract:
Geography is a subject that assists individuals to understand societal problems based on the curriculum. However, challenges have emerged from the low enrolment of students in
geography compared to religious studies and history which lie in the social studies group as shown from the figures from 2008-2014. There were 33,1249 students for religious studies, 116,687students for geography, and 293,117 students for history in KCSE examinations (KSR, KNEC,2014).From the information above its clear that geography had the lowest enrolment and also poor results in KCSE examinations. This study sought to establish the Geography subject’s relevance in understanding societal problems. The study utilized a conceptual framework showing the relationship between the independent variable (relevance of geography)and the dependent variable (understanding societal problems). A descriptive survey design was employed because the respondents are given an opportunity to express their views and it determines and reports things the way they are. A sample of 260 forms three geography students was obtained through a simple random sampling technique from a target population of 868 students from 21 extra county schools in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. Data collection tools were the student questionnaire and interview guide schedule. Data were analyzed by transcription and assigning codes according to the objective of the study. All the coded questionnaires were entered into the SPSS program and run descriptive statistics. Data was presented in form of pie charts and bar graphs. The findings indicated that 74.6% of the respondents felt that the Geography subject is relevant in understanding environmental degradation while (45.8%) felt that the subject is least relevant in understanding drug abuse and violence. Recommendations made are that learners should be encouraged to choose geography subject as it guides learners to tackle various environmental and societal challenges. It is also recommended that geography should be made compulsory among all secondary school students because it helps to understand environmental issues and their possible solutions.
