Kibabii University 1st International Conference; June 22-24,2016
Polycarp waswa and Robert Wafula Wekesa
Abstract
Parents are the primary and principle educators of their children from infancy to the age they join pre- primary schools. They also remain a major influence on their offspring’s education through their formative years, school and beyond. For that reason, their involvement in pre- primary access, learning and transition to primary is very important since it influences the education foundation given to a child for future learning. Despite the fact that Kenya ratified the Jomtien Education for all declaration in March 1990 and Kenya declaring free primary education in 2003, the pre-primary school education access is still at 40% and more worse in Kakamega central which is at 39% ( Uwezo Kenya learning assessment 2010). Many reasons just to mention family size, family structure, parent’s perception on Early Childhood development and Education, lack of fees and other educational materials and where children live (Ajila &Alutola 2000), have been raised, parental involvement has not been mentioned and given a great weight as a reason. Kenya as a county, a great deal has been achieved in the Early childhood sector through Ministry of Education and other stakeholders, but children enrolling in pre- primary schools have remained low. Parental involvement has not been fully investigated especially in areas related to children’s education at pre- primary level. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of parental involvement in children accessing ECD education, completion and transition to standard one in Kakamega central sub county, Kakamega County, Kenya. The objectives of the study will include; examine the rate of access to pre-school education, determine ways of parental involvement in pre-school education, establish the rate of transition from pre-school to primary education, compare parental involvement and transition rate and find out factors influencing parental involvement in Kakamega central sub county, Kakamega county Kenya. The Study will be based on both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. The data for the study will be obtained from the school records, well administered questionnaires, interviews and observations. Questionnaires will be administered to 45 respondents comprising of pre-school teachers. Interviews will be conducted to 45 Parents of 45 pre-schools which will be purposely selected from 2 divisions of Kakamega central sub county. The data will be analysed using simple percentages and frequency distribution tables to answer the questions that shall be posed by the researcher. The study shall then establish if there is a low access and transition rate of children in Early childhood Education Institutions in Kakamega central sub county due to some highlighted factors on parental involvement.
