IMPACT ON LOWER PRIMARY EDUCATION BY THE CHALLENGES OF DISTANCE TO THE PRE-SCHOOL CENTRES IN MUKOGODO DIVISION, LAIKIPIA COUNTY, KENYA

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ABSTRACT

The government of Kenya since independence has had many  commissions  in  place which have helped review Kenyan system of education so as to make sure it is in  line  with  the national requirements of human capital and also national educational  goals  and objectives. The legal provision and policy documents of Kenya  support  the education  or the minor ity and the marginalized children. It is within the country’s legal framework and policy to provide quality education to all irrespective of cultural, religion and economic disparit ies. There should be enough schools and of good quality in the whole country. Currently with devolved government, the counties are supposed to look into the development of Early Childhood Development in their respective counties. It will not just  be enough  to construct ECD centers but there is need to check who these centers are serving and how far  these children are coming from so as to  cater  for  all  children  without  discrimination,  thus  the study sought to investigate the impact on lower primary education  by the  challenges  of distance to the pre-school centres in Mukogodo division,  Laikipia  county.  The  purpose  of this research was to investigate the effect of long distance from home to pre- school on pre- school and lower primary academic performance of the children of the pastoralist community in Mukogodo division Laikipia County Kenya.  The  research  was to find out how long distance to pre-school centers affects  pre-school  attendance,  pre-school  entry age, enrolment and eventually academic performance at lower  primary  school level.  The  study  was guided  by justice  and  fairness  theory  which  advocates  for principles  of justice  to guide modern social order by John Rawl (1971). The researcher used questionnaires as research instruments which were filled by pre-school teachers and class teachers of lower primary and also had an interview schedule for ECD sub county officer. The researcher employed the descriptive survey research design due its appropriateness for educational research. The records on academic performance of the pupils to establish their academic performance and also the pre-school attendance  register  were  checked.  The  target population was pre-school teachers, pre-school children, lower primary school and pre-  school class teachers and ECD Sub-county officer. The schools were 17 in total. The study sampled 7 pre schools and 7 public primary  schools.  The  sample  size  was 47.05% of the total population. The results were coded and entered into the computer and analyzed  using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) where  frequencies,  percentages,  and means were computed and presented using graphs and tables. The results were used to come up with recommendations that would help  improve  academic performance in  this region. The study findings were; long distance form home to school affected enrolment of children to pre-schools. It also affects the age entry of the pupils in pre-school.  Attendance of the children in school  is  poor due  to long  distance  from  home  hence  poor performance in school. The study concluded that long distances affects the  performance  of the  pupils  in early primary school, it affects the  attendance  and  age  entry  of the  pupils  in  pre-schools. The study recommends that all stakeholders should put in place  to  critically  address  challenges related to issues of access, equity, quality and relevance  of ECDE programs and also mitigate against the challenges that affect the learning programs due to long distance.

CHAPTER   ONE INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT OF THE STUDY

             Introduction

This chapter presents the background of the study, research problem, purpose of the study, objectives, limitations and  delimitations,  assumptions,  theoretical  framework   and conceptual framework.

 Background of the Study

Learning is a dynamic process and its outcome is more evident  when it  begins  early  in  life and continues through adulthood (Heckman, 2000 pg 50). The  learning  environment  should be good with enough and safe physical space. It should also begin at an appropriate starting age. Long distance has been a great hindrance to achieve this. To curb this problem many communities lives in dispersed villages,  the  ECD  centers  are  build in search a way that they serve a number of villages.

A recent study conducted by Germany-based Education International showed that long journeys to school have a negative impact on students’ health and on their education achievement levels (Tumwebaze, 2016). Schools of any type must be easily accessible – this is particularly valid for elementary schools. For health  consideration, the slogan,  ‘Short legs – short distance’ must not be valid only for elementary schools. It must lead to  all  schools being kept close to students’ homes.  Only  this way wil it be guaranteed that children are not exposed to the stress and dangers of long journeys to school.

In Mexico, Coady and Parker (2002) studied factor influencing academic performance as being the distance from school, long distance is a reason for lateness. In Brazil the school

day run from 7 a .m to noon and student typically go home at noon to share lunch with their family hence many school can barely afford to complete  the syllabus  with  scarce facilit ies like computers hence weak performance in National exams Cohen (2004).

Broadly speaking, in Nigeria school attendance levels  are  lower  for  girls  than  for  boys, (NPC and RTI International 2011). According to the 2010 NEDS the main reason that parents and guardians gave for their  primary-aged children  having never attended school was the distance to school. Several studies have carried out statistical analyses of school attendance based on household survey data. Kazeem et., al. (2010) estimated a model of school attendance based on household characteristics taken from 2004 NDHS data, controlling for various demographic aspects such as wealth and location. They found that distance to the nearest school were the most important determinants of child  school  attendance.

Musisi et al (2003) argues that commuting to and from school led to lowering of morale among pupils in primary schools in Uganda. Low  morale  would  have  been a result  of  waking up very early but arriving at school  late, which  in  turn  influenced  students’ academic  performance negatively.  According  to Ibrahim  et al (2008), pupils’  dropout  rate is determined by an increase  in  distance  from  school  to home.  Therefore  the  further  it  16 is, the higher the chances of dropping out.

Jagero et al (2010) asserts that girls who stayed  near schools  performed  better than  those who came from far. To them the reason was that they would regularly miss lessons and be punished for that. According to Mutai (2010), long distances led to lateness to school besides making pupils getting exhausted which in turn affected their rate of concentration

in class. It has been observed that rural schools face challenges relating to isolation,  poverty and limited job opportunities for school  leavers. Isolation denies rural schools the advantages of urban based resources for instance  library,  electricity, technology which might enhance learning gains  (Capper, 1993). Bickel  and Lange  (1995) noted  that  because of limited employment  opportunities,   learners  in  rural  areas do see any  financial   benefits to attend or succeed in school. According to Sheldon (2012), due to distance factor most rural schools are rarely visited by quality assurance officers. According to a UNICEF study carried out in six  focus  districts  (Nairobi,  Baringo,  Mombasa, Garissa,  Kwale and Kisumu) in 1998, the proximity and access to primary school is a predetermining factor to enrolment and retention. In ASALs areas, distance between schools and homes  is  far  and  the educational delivery systems are often incompatible with the lifestyle of nomadic people. Limited number of schools and highly dispersed rural population, force children to traverse difficult terrain and lack of transport makes access to schools more  difficult  for  primary pupils. Studies done  by Chimombo  (2005) indicate  that  school  location;  rural  and  urban has an influence on learner’s academic gains and enrolment. Lockhead and Vaspoor (1990) noted that children who lived far way from school were prone to absenteeism  and fatigue. Long distance reduces the chance of pupils going back for lunch especially in those schools where lunch programs are not offered. The weather conditions  also  make  schooling difficult especially during rainy and cold seasons. The ever-changing season spell doom to most of the rural children; since they are rained on or exposed to extremely cold conditions than usual. Besides, the path routes used daily tend to become muddy and 17 slippery. Mt.Elgon has a terrain, which has steep valleys and hills especially in Chepyuk and Kopsiro zones, hence; pupils are exposed to rough conditions during rainy and cold season. It

becomes more dangerous with lightning and thunderstorms. For pupils who are day scholars it is a nightmare, Kabiru and Njenga (2009)

Currently with devolved government, the counties are  supposed   to   look  into  the development of Early Childhood Development  (ECD)  in  their  respective  counties.  It will  not just be enough to construct ECD centers but  there  is  need to check  who  these  centers are serving and how far these children are coming from so as to cater for all children without discrimination.

The aim of education system in Kenya is transforming the  country  into  a  newly  industrialized middle  income  country  providing  a high  quality  of life  to  all  citizens  in  a clean and secure environment (Republic of Kenya, 2010). Kenya being one of 164 governments that pledged the achievement of EFA goals by 2015 and in line with the development agenda as spelt out in  the  vision  2030, has  to put in  place  the  right policies that will bring equality in provision of basic education to reduce disparity between regions, especially children belonging to  ethnic minority and the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. The best policies for each region can be formulated  after situational  analysis so as to come up with appropriate policies since regions differ in many aspects such as geographical location, culture, lifestyle and challenges in the day to day life.

Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) being the first formal agent of socialization (Kibera and Kimokoti, 2007) calls on the attention of all stakeholders to critically address challenges related to issues of access, equity,  quality  and  relevance  of ECDE programs. Mukogondo division is missing out in access and equity of ECDE. The pastoralist community in Mukogondo division Laikipia North sub-county, Laikipia

County, belongs  to  the  ethnic  minority  living  in  harsh  environmental  conditions  that hamper early  childhood  development  and  education  therefore  hindering  the  achieve ment of EFA goals by 2015. The purpose  of this  study  was  to carry  out  situational analysis  of the community by looking at how distance from home to pre-school centers affects pre-  school pupils’ attendance, school entry age and academic performance at lower primary school level.

             Statement Problem

Research has shown that pre-school attendance contributes positively to a child’s formal education growth and development. It’s associated with increase in school  readiness  for primary school which is an important predictor of school achievement. It has  been shown  that early childhood education can be a major input into  a child’s  formal  education  growth and development. The issue of enrolment of children to pre-school  has  been  a  major concern all over the world and policy frameworks in many Governments do not adequately address issues concerning Early Childhood  Development  programmes.  Due to introduct ion of Free Primary Education, (FPE) in  Kenya  since  2003, some  parents  are circumvent ing the pre-school level by enrolling their children in primary school without going through pre-school. Despite being an important policy issue, there have been diversions where enrolment for preschool learners has not  received  much  attention.  In  terms  of age  entry most parents  take their  children  to school  at a certain  age far above the  recommended  age of three years due to long distance. The enrolment rate of pre-school has been low in Mukogodo division. This may have a negative effect on academic performance at  lower primary level. Thus the study therefore sought to investigate the effect of long distance on pre-school and early primary school pupils.

             Purpose of the Study

The aim of the study was to assess the effect of long distance between home and pre-school centers on Pre-school attendance, school entry age and how this factors affect academic performance at lower primary level.

             Objectives of the Study

The study was guided by the following objectives:

  1. To establish the effect of the long distance to pre-school centers  on pre-school pupils attendance.
    1. To explore the effect of long distance to pre-school on pre- school entry age.
  • To explore the extent to which  long  distance affects  academic  performance  at lower primary school level.

             Research Question

  1. What is the effect of long distance from home to pre-school centers on pre-school attendance?
    1. How does the long distance affect school entry age?
  • How does pre-school attendance affect academic performance at lower primary level?