Publication: An evaluation of the implementation of early Childhood education in public pre-school units in Kieni east district, Nyeri county Kenya
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2013-11
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Mount Kenya University
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Abstract
Early Childhood Education serves as a ‘first line of defence’ in dealing with disability and
development delay. Implementation of National Centre for Early Childhood Education
(NACECE) pre-school curriculum is a very important activity towards the achievement of the
objectives of pre-school education in Kenya. Despite the government policy to support ECD
curriculum, little has been done in Kieni East. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the
implementation of early childhood education programme in public pre- school units in Kieni
East District. The study sought to evaluate the extent to which objectives of the pre-school
education programme have been achieved, the extent to which pre-school teachers have
acquired the requisite skills to teach pre schools for implementing pre-school education
programme, the adequacy of teaching/learning resources, the role of parents in the management
of pre-school education programmes and how administrative support influence implementation
of the pre-school education programme. The study adopted the survey design approach. The
target population of the study was 50 head teachers, 50 school management committee
representatives from every pre-school and 102 teachers in 50 public pre-schools in Kieni East
District. 62 pre-school teachers, 31 head teachers and 31 Board of management ECD
representatives were sampled out using simple random sampling. The study adopted
questionnaires and interview schedule as the main data collection instruments. Qualitative and
quantitative techniques were employed in data analysis with the help of SPSS version 20.0 for
windows. The study found that majority of the pre-schools in Kieni East District graduated
between 1 and 30 children to primary school. All the pre-school teachers had been trained and
had acquired higher education qualifications with half 27 holding a college diploma and an
equal number having achieved a university degree. The study found that majority 22 (80%) of
the pre-school units in Kieni East District did not have adequate teaching and learning
resources. The study found that majority 25 (90%) of the pre-schools involved parents in
management of the pre-school programme. A majority 28 (51%) of the teachers indicated that
their respective preschools received administrative support from the head teachers of the
primary schools of which the preschools were attached to. The study concluded that the
objectives of the pre-school education programme have not been fully achieved. The enrollment
of students in pre-school units is still low. In addition the preschool programme still faces a
myriad of challenges chief among them the lack of a feeding programme. The study
recommended that the government should incorporate the pre-school programme into the
primary school programme for easier management.
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Keywords
Partial Fulfillment, Childhood education