The thrust of this study was to examine the critical challenges inhibiting effective participation in education by pupils from rural public primary schools in Central Division, Narok North Sub-County, in Narok County, Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional research design. Combinations of stratified and purposive sampling strategies were employed to select 60 class teachers, 30 headteachers, 120 upper primary school pupils (class 5-8) and two Quality Assurance and Standards (QUASO) officers yielding a sample size of 212 respondents drawn from 15 primary schools in the study locale. The main data collection instruments were questionnaires, interview guides and observation checklist. The study revealed that the main home-based variables negatively influencing enrollment and participation in public primary schools in Narok sub-County were: poverty, low premium attached to education, language barrier, inadequate parental involvement in the education of their children and poor of health of pupils. It was recommended that concerted efforts among key education stakeholders particularly parents and members of the provincial administration should be empowered to enable them dismantle the home-based bottlenecks and effectively provide for their children's education.