Influence of free primary education on pupils’ enrollment in pre-school in Waitaluk zone, central division, Trans- Nzoia county Kenya.

Abstract

Universal Primary Education (UPE) is one of the Millennium Development Goal which all countries are expected to achieve by the year 2015. The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of free primary education on pupils’ enrolment in Early Childhood centers (ECDE). This study was guided by the four objectives which include; establishing the influence of school fees abolition on pupils’ enrolment in public ECDE Centers, determining the influence of availability of teaching and learning resources on pupils’ enrolment in public ECDE centers, examining the extent to which free school feeding programme affects pupils’ enrolment in public ECDE centers and proposing possible strategies to improve pupil enrolment in ECDE. The study adopted a descriptive survey design to establish the influence of free primary education on pupils’ enrolment in Early Childhood centers (ECDE). The target population for this study was ECDE school pupils, class teachers, head teachers, Sub county Quality Assurance and parents. Stratified random sampling technique to identify the schools that were to be sampled was utilized. Questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect data. Pretesting of the tools were done in two centers that were not part of the study but have similar characteristics. The collected data were coded and processed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 and presented in tables, bar graphs, text and pie charts. This study investigated the influence of free primary education on pupils’ enrollment in pre-school (4-9 years) in Waitaluk Zone, Central Division Trans-Nzoia County. The participants comprised parents, teachers, head teachers and pupils from the 8 public primary schools in WaitalukZone, Central Division Trans -NzoiaCounty, and the target being 8 head teachers, 8 teachers, 50 pupils and 50 parents and one Quality Assurance. The respondents available for the study were 8 head teachers, 8 class teachers 50 pupils, 50 parents and 1 QASO, making a total of 117 respondents.The study found out that the enrolment in schools decreased after 2003 but increased by 2012. All of the respondents had only one stream in pre-primary. However, there were more than 2 streams from class 1. This is a strong indicator that the classes were crowded, given the number of pupils enrolled. Overcrowded classes do not enhance learning and teaching due to the fact that the pupils will not get the individualized attention from teachers. Affordability of school fees by parents, Distance from home to school, Availability of a school feeding programme, Availability of space in school and Community perceptions of education. It was found that funds allocated to schools were found to be inadequate. This was attributed to lack of government’s revision of capitation policy against price index and lack of sensitivity to look at the situation as it is on the ground. It also emerged that the funds allocated to schools were irregular and did not arrive on time to help the schools plans and meet its needs.