1.0
INTRODUCTION
1.1.
Background
to the Problem
Early childhood education and care are on the
reform agenda in many countries, including those in Africa (Agbenyenga,2017).
The purpose of ECE is to ensure that the first1,000 critical days of a child
life for acquiring fundamental cognitive, physical, emotional and social
skills. It is during these formative years that the parents and community
assist the infants for the systematic
and most rapid development process that occurs. Motor and verbal skills,
like an infant pulling herself to stand or a toddler learning to express his
feelings with words, lay the foundation for sensory processing, coordination,
alertness, and critical problem solving (Agbenyenga,2017). Yet, statistics on
ECE in Africa are appalling, with less than 12 % of Africa’s children currently
have access to Early Childhood and Education.
The aim of early childhood education and care
is to provide developmental support and care for children in their formative
years so that they can acquire the skills necessary for future learning and
success in school. This success is expected to benefit the social and economic
development of society at large. Although Africa has undergone remarkable
transformations since its contact with Europeans and other foreign cultural
elements, the promotion of universal access to quality early childhood
education and care remains a significant challenge for educators and
policymakers in Africa.
According to Broakye-Boeten (2010) ECE provides
insights into how Africa emerged from this contact with a “bruised cultural
identity” that has impacted heavily on child development in Africa.
Two revolutionary bodies of research have redefined the way we think about
early childhood development (Sonorane,2018). One is the evidence on the large
positive economic and social returns from investments in the early years of
life. The other is the knowledge generated from advances in neuroscience on
brain development, which underlines the importance of the nurturing qualities
of the environments where children grow and learn. Both indicate that early
childhood presents a crucial window of opportunity for providing an integrated
package of development services that match this sensitive period in brain
development. The ability to translate the science of early childhood
development into effective policies and programs and scaling up their
implementation has been variable in many ways(Sonorane,2018).
Several studies, research works and agendas invariably
mention the recognition of early childhood as the basis for sustainable
development as one of the priorities and success stories for the African
continent. Yet, about 200 million children globally fail to reach
their potential in cognitive development because of inter-related factors of
poverty, inadequate care and poor health experienced mainly at the home and
community level. (Granthan-Mcgregor,2007; Munthal, Mvula & Silos, 2014).
This is especially the case in resource poor countries such as Malawi. The high
prevalence of poverty generally leads to inadequate food and poor hygiene and
sanitation which consequently increase the vulnerability of children to
diseases including malnutrition and related disorders. Severe clinical
malnutrition also leads to deficits in intelligence and school performance.
These issues affecting children need to be urgently addressed if developing
countries are to achieve MDGs 1 and 2 as well as Sustainable Development Goals,
which are to eradicate poverty and hunger; and to ensure that all children
complete primary schooling, respectively. The first few years of human
development are crucial as it is a time when somatic changes including growth
and development of the brain occur (Walker, et.al.2007).
Over the past decade,
considerable public and private attention has been focused on strengthening
strategies for early childhood development and family support. States are
steadily increasing support for child development, child care, and family
support programs targeting young children and families, (Cauthene, Knitzer &
Ripple,2001) and initiatives focused on cities are growing (Knitzer &
Adey,2001). Advocates have promoted broad community mobilization and public
awareness about the importance of early childhood. For the most part, however,
activity to promote healthy child development and provide support to families
with young children has not been linked with efforts to promote family economic
security in low-income communities. At the same time, initiatives to promote
community building and address economic issues in low-income communities have
typically not explicitly addressed the developmental and family support needs
of young children and families. It is against this backdrop that this study set
out to examine the nature of community participation in Early Childhood
Education in Meru South County.
1.2.
State of
the Art Review
Literature
is prolific which shows increasing priority being placed on the development of
national intersectoral early childhood (ECD) policies in Sub-Saharan Africa (Neuman
& Devecercelli,2012).Recent developments have stressed the need to for
holistic approaches to learning that children’s physical and intellectual
well-being and socio-cultural and cognitive dvelopments are all inter-related ( Granthan-Mcgregor
et.al.2007).In the last decade, as countries have increasingly recognized the
importance of reaching children during early years, there has been a
proliferation of national intersectoral ( or integrated 0 ECD policies in countries
around the world, including Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the rapid growth in
national ECD policies in Sub-Saharan Africa, the enrollment of children
currently under parents and community is still very low (Neuman &
Devecercelli,2012).
In the
last decade, as countries have increasingly recognized the importance of
reaching children during their early years, there has been a proliferation of
national intersectoral (or integrated) ECD policies in countries around the
world, including those in Sub-Saharan Africa When the Millennium Development
Goals and Education for All Goals were set in 2000, few countries had adopted
national ECD policies. According to a review by Turkington (2001), in
sub-Saharan Africa, only Mauritius and Namibia had established ECD policies in
2001 (cited in Vargas-Baron, 2008). By 2012, the situation had changed
dramatically.
A recent review commissioned by UNESCO
revealed that 23 out of 47 countries have adopted national ECD policies.
Another 13 countries have policies under development or drafted, but not yet
approved (Vargas-Baron & Schipper, 2012). Table 1 summarizes the current
status of national ECD policy development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Around the
world, many stakeholders have supported this growth in national ECD policy
development. For example, development partners, including UNICEF, UNESCO and
the World Bank, have provided financial and technical support for many national
efforts to address the needs of young children and the fragmentation and gaps
in existing policies, laws, and programs. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the
Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) Working Group on
Early Childhood Development encouraged national ECD policy development in a
number of countries, through regional and cross-country assessments, and
capacity-building activities (Aidoo, 2008). Specifically, the ADEA Working
Group on ECD commissioned case studies of ECD policies in Ghana, Mauritius, and
Namibia in 2000-2001 to identify lessons learned for other countries in Africa.
Subsequently, in 2002-2003, the Working Group funded technical support to
national ECD policy planning in Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Senegal. Policies
in all three countries have since been approved and lessons learned have been
shared with other countries (Vargas-Baron, 2008).
In addition, a series of four continent-wide
ECD conferences organized by ADEA and held in Kampala (1999), Eritrea (2002),
Ghana (2005), and Senegal (2009) brought together African and international
experts, policymakers, and development partners to help generate support for
comprehensive early childhood policies and programs on the continent. Comparing
ECD Policies and Institutional Arrangements in East Africa Despite the rapid
growth in national ECD policies in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is still much to
be done to ensure that children’s holistic needs are met. We argue that for
most countries, national ECD policies are a useful first step, but not
sufficient. For example, although most countries’ ECD policies call for
expansion of services across health, nutrition, education, and child protection
sectors, the pace of implementation has been slow.
The recognition of
early childhood as the foundation for sustainable development is inherent in
the Global 2030 Agenda, which gives a prominent place for children’s survival
and development. While all Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets aim at
creating enabling environments for children to survive and thrive, five of them
explicitly relate to young children: they seek to end all forms of poverty,
malnutrition, preventable deaths, abuse, exploitation and violence, as well as
ensure the provision of access to quality pre-primary education and a legal
identity right from birth (United Nations,2017).
These commitments
have been taken at the highest level by world governments and they will without
doubt require substantial additional investments, both in terms of financial
resources and human capabilities. By 2050, Africa is expected to account for
more than half of the world’s population growth. Around 42% of the world’s
births will take place in Africa. By 2100, if current trends persist, around
50% of all the world’s children will be African. This growth presents a highly
valuable human-capital asset.
This has
implications for policy-makers who need to invest in this growing population of
children to reap the benefits of this demographic dividend. This in turn will
depend on preschool children being developmentally on track, to stay in school,
learn and successfully complete their secondary education at the very least.
Investing in universal access to quality early childhood development services
will be a major step toward achieving this outcome.
Malawi is one of the countries
with the most extensive network of ECD centres in Africa. These centres
comprise of, among others, community-based childcare centres (CBCCs),
pre-schools and day care centres (Yallow, et.al.2012). These ECD centres were
established in order to ensure that children in Malawi benefit from such
interventions. The emphasis on ECD interventions such as the establishment and
running of CBCCs is based on the evidence that exposing children to such
programs ensures that they develop their basic skills, attitudes, behaviours
and values that will last for their life time (Yallow, et.al.2012). The CBCCs cater for children aged 3–5 years
and are managed by members of the community namely parents, guardians,
caregivers and community members (Messner & Levy,2012). The Ministry of
Gender, Children and Social Welfare, with support from UNICEF, has been in the
forefront in facilitating the establishment of CBCCs including the training of
community volunteer caregivers who take care of the children enrolled in these
centres. Apart from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Community Development,
there are also some NGOs that are supporting CBCCs for example through the
training of caregivers running these CBCCs, providing play materials and
cooking utensils and the construction of CBCC structures. Each CBCC has a CBCC
committee which consists of community members who oversee the daily functioning
of the Centre (Messner & Levy,2012).
In the
East African region, Tanzania is the leading country with about 34% of children
enrolled followed by Kenya with about 28% and Uganda about 14 % children
enrolled in ECD (World Bank,2012). It
has been established that countries in the East African region have unique
challenges to the effort to promote holistic ECD for children. Each country has
taken a different approach to developing an ECD policy, and the status of
policies and choice of institutional anchors varies across the four countries.
While the key indicators of children’s well-being vary from country to country
, across the region, overall levels are quite poor(Neuman &
Devecercelli,2012). The policy is not very clear about the nature support
parents and community should provide to enhance the welfare of the ECD centres.
In the context of
Kenya, Education development in country has always been through partnership
between government, communities, international bilateral and multilateral
donors. There is need to strengthen the roles of these partners in order for
them to continue playing their roles in provision of educational services thus
lessening the government burden on education. It is from this understanding
that the school headteacher need to strengthen the relationship between the
school and the community of parents, administrators, Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOS), churches and sponsors, the MOE and the bodies that
support education like Kenya Institute of Education (KIE), Kenya Literature
Bureau (KLB), Jomo Kenyatta Foundation (JKF) and Kenya National Examination
Council (KNEC). In fact, Olembo et al (1992) calls the headteacher a public
relations officer of the school.
According to Otwani
(2003), headteachers have overall responsibility over the operations of the
school and is accountable to his/her employer, professional, personnel,
community and parents on curriculum implementation and supervision, financial
management, discipline, personnel management, public relations and physical
resources. To, account for and own responsibility on these issues, the
headteacher need to call in the advice of others through wide consultations. On
this issue, MoEST (1999) observes that an effective headteacher will involve
and motivate all stakeholders to contribute to the planning process and to gain
ownership in the proposed outcomes.
1.3
Statement of the Problem
Despite the fact that the Republic of Kenya (2012)
recognizes that for pre-schools be part and parcel of the entire education
structure, it is critically important that for the sector to meet their
educational objectives by actively involving parents and the community to
ensure maximum efficiency. The need for empowering school managers with
management skills to be able to mobilize parents and encourage community to
improve the quality of service to children need not be overemphasized.
Currently, policies involving parents and community in supporting ECD is not
very explicit on expected roles of the community. World Bank (2012) laments
that the committees are not able to provide adequate support to ECE due to
economic hardships and people’s attitude towards ECE. It was against this backdrop that information
that the study set out to establish the problems the primary school headteacher
experiences in school community relations.
2.0. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1. Research Design
This study used a
descriptive survey design. A descriptive survey design was used to explain or
explore the existing status of two or more variables under scrutiny, by
enabling the researcher collect original data for the purpose of describing the
population which is large to observe directly. Mwimbi Division has a large
number of pre-school necessitating a survey sampled preschools to be done
(Orodho,2012; 2017).
2.2. Study Location
The study took place
in Mwimbi Division, Meru South County in Eastern Province of Kenya. Meru South County
comprises divisions namely; Chuka,
Igambang’ombe, Magumoni and Muthambi. In Meru South, Mwimbi is the largest
division with three Educational Zones; Chogoria, Kiera and Ganga. The division
is inhabited by Meru people with few people from other communities. A bigger
proportion of the population engages in subsistence farming with very low
income. The researcher chose the division for study because it cuts across
different climatic zones ranging from semi-arid area bordering Tharaka to the
highlands bordering Mt. Kenya forest. This represents a varied population in
terms of material resources. This was assumed to have some impact on pupil
enrolment, teacher distribution and retention, finances, type of physical plant
and level of community participation in ECE programme all of which are part of
the task areas of a headteacher. Finally, the study area was chosen because a study of a similar
nature has never been conducted there.
2.3. Sample and Sampling
Procedure
The study was based
on a sample of 14 pre-schools which comprised of 20% of the target population
of 7l pre-schools in the division. Orodho, Nzabalirwa, Odundo, Waweru and
Ndayambaje (2016) recommends 20% sample for a small population. Simple random
sampling technique was used to obtain the required sample size employing the
basket or raffle method to ensure that all the centres have an equal chance of
being included in the study. The name of the Centre was written on a piece of
paper, all of which were folded into equal and same sizes, put into a
container, mixed thoroughly out of which 14 pieces were picked at random. These
were the pre-school to be included in the study. From each sample school, the
headteacher/manager, one teacher and two parents, who were accessible, were the
respondents, giving rise to 14', headteachers, 14 teachers and 28 parents,
resulting to a total of 56 respondents.
2.4. Research Instruments
The study used
questionnaires to obtain data from headteachers and teachers and Focus Groups
Discussion (FGD) guides from parents. Kothari (2004) defined a research
instrument as a tool the researcher uses to collect the data required by the
study. Orodho, Nzabalirwa, Odundo, Waweru and Ndayambaje (2016) recommended the
use of a variety of data collection instruments to achieve triangulation. The headteachers questionnaire It was
relatively easy and cost-effective (in terms of time and money) to construct
and administer headteacher’s and teacher’s questionnaires. The questionnaires
contained closed-ended items. Closed-ended items are easier to analyze .as they
are in immediate usable form (Orodho, Nzabalirwa, Odundo, Waweru &
Ndayambaje,2016) .
The parents focus
group discussion guideline was also used as recommended by Orodho, Nzabalirwa,
Odundo, Waweru and Ndayambaje (2016) who assert that a FGD is a special type of
group interview composes of individuals who have been selected because they
share certain characteristics, which are relevant to the topic being studied.
The study employed the parents FGD Guide as it generated a lot of information
quickly and cheaply, it is appropriate in exploring beliefs, ideas or options
in a group (parents) rather than an individual. People usually feel comfortable
in a FGD, because it is a natural form of communication (Orodho,2017).
2.3.
Pretesting Research Instruments
According to Orodho,
Nzabalirwa, Odundo, Waweru and Ndayambaje (2016), instrument piloting is the
pre-testing of the instruments to assess their validity and reliability so that
items that fail to meet the anticipated data will be discarded or modified
accordingly. Pre-testing of the instruments was done before the study in two
randomly selected pre-testing centers which were excluded from the study
sample. The respondents of the pilot study were one headteacher, 2 teachers and
4 parents. Items that appeared unclear or ambiguous to the respondents were
reworded making them clearer. The purpose of pretesting was to establish the
validity and reliability of the instruments.
Orodho (2017) defines
instrument validity as the extent an instrument measures what it purports to
measure. He asserts that, content validity cannot easily be represented
numerically, and can best be determined subjectively by a thorough examination
of the instrument by experts in the area of research drawn from the Department
of Educational Management, Policy and Curriculum Studies, School of Education. The instruments were developed and then
handed them over to the experts to establish whether they measured what they
intended to measure. The instruments were modified accordingly in line with the
recommendations of the experts.
With regards to
reliability of the instruments, Kothari (2004) defines reliability as a measure
of the degree to which an instrument. yields consistent results or data after
repeated trials. The researcher used the split-half method of assessing
reliability which required only one testing session. The test involved
splitting the data into two halves and finding the reliability between the two
halves. Each half was scored independently of the other with the items of the
two halves matched on content and difficulty. The split-half method eliminates chance
errors likely to affect test-retest method. The instruments were administered
to two randomly selected pre-schools in Mwimbi Division after which they Were
scored. The scored items were divided into two separate halves of even and odd
numbers. The total scores of each half were tabulated. A reliability of 0.7 or
greater was accepted. According to Orodho (2017), a correlation coefficient of
0.7 for the two halves was considered sufficient
2.4. Data
Collection Procedure
A research permit was
sought from the National Council for Science Technology and Innovation
(NACOSTI) before undertaking the field work. The research team made a courtesy
call at the county education office. However, two visits were made to the
pre-schools/subjects. During the first visit, the research team attempted to
strike a rapport with the Headteachers seek their permission to talk to the
respondents. The procedure was explained to all of them the purpose of the
study with the assurance that the information they would give would be kept
confidential, private and anonymous. After issuing to them the instrument,
fixed dates were made with headteachers and teachers when to collect the
questionnaires. The team requested headteachers to facilitate contact with the
parents to be involved in the study and prepare them for discussion.
2.5. Data Analysis
The gathered data
were validated, edited and then coded. According to Orodho, Khatete and Mugiraneza
(2016), a validation process determines the return rate of questionnaires while
editing the instruments determines if they are filled up and whether they have
errors. A return rate of at least 70% is acceptable while instruments with more
than 40% incomplete respond will be discarded. Data from FGD open-ended items
constituting the qualitative data in form of words and phrases were transcribed
and then arranged as per emerging themes according to the objectives of study.
These data were computed where possible along with data from the structured
questionnaire items which consists of quantitative data inform of numerical
values. Finally, quantitative data coding was done whereby categories of
responses were identified, classified and then recorded on a prepared sheet as
per the objective of study. Quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to generate frequency and percentages and
correlation coefficients. The data were presented using tables and graphs
accompanied by appropriate explanations.
3.0.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Research
Findings
In an attempt to
establish the role of the local community in enhancing the welfare of Early
Childhood Centres in the study locale, headteachers were requested to indicate
the nature of support they receive from parents as members of the community.
Their responses are as exhibited in Figure 1.
Focus
group discussions with 28 parents in four sessions indicated that parents were
aware of the importance of ECE programme. From one of the FGD sessions, the
response was
They reported that
ECE is the foundation base for education, ECE helps socialize the child at an
early age in terms of language development and interaction and that children
who attend pre-school have an advantage over those who do not. These centers
are very useful because when children come back home after attending the
sessions, they are much improved and can mention important things about life
skills.
The
foregoing citation indicates that parents value the education of their children
at the Early Childhood Centers.
The
parents were probed to indicate the exact nature of support they provide to the
Early Childhood Centers. The following were some of the captured nature of
assistance:
Helping
manage the schools through fees payment; Allowing children to attend pre-school;
Disciplining the children d. Employing staff ' e.' Helping children grow as
responsible citizens; Relating and consulting with ECE staff in the full
development of children; Contributing ideas, fiancés and materials toward ECE Centre
development.
The parents in one of the focus group
discussion fora were requested to indicate how they consider the Early
Childhood Centres to have benefitted their children. The following reactions were captured:
Parents
reported that their children were keen to attend pre-school because teachers
treated them well, and the children enjoyed playing with their peers. However,
some failed to attend school due to long distance between home and pre-school.
Most parents described the learning offered at the centres as good, while some
complained of teachers being inadequately trained on ECE.
The Headteachers interviewed on some of the constraint’s
managers experienced in the Early Childhood centres. From the FGD, it was apparent that the
following were the main problems that acted as a threat to the management of
ECE Centres.
Lack of awareness on the importance of
pre-school by some parents. Economic hardships leading to inadequate funding of
programmes; Inadequate facilities; Bad mentality by parents that the government
should support ECE just like free primary; education; Teachers workload is
quite high. Lack of qualified teachers; Poor pay teachers leading to
demoralization; amongst others.
Parents as representatives of the community
were probed to suggest some strategies to be adopted to alleviate the problem
encountered in ECE centres. The parents suggested the following solutions to
address the problems encountered in ECE canters’ management:
Look
for alternative sources of funding; More campaign to be made on ECE; Government
to strengthen ECE by being the main sponsor; The community to support the centres;
Make ECE compulsory to all those going to class one.
The study came up
with significant findings related to the nature of support of community in the management
and enhancement of the welfare of public ECE centres. The study has established
that most parents support the ECE centers in several ways including recruitment
of teachers. This finding further established that teachers in the ECE centres
were employed by parents, and managed by the ECE committee. The study findings
concur with Haddad (2002), who states that although 80 percent of ECE centres
are public, they are funded and managed by local parents and communities, and
most of the teachers are employed by the parents with low salaries and
irregular pay. Haddad (2002) advises that, in order to ensure professionalism,
a reasonable and regular salary should be provided for the teachers, especially
alter they have been trained and certified.
The study established
that the community supported ECE centres through finances, building of physical
facilities, releasing children to attend school, deploying ECE staff,
initiating and maintaining ECE feeding programme, helping children to develop
learning materials, follow-up on progress of pupils, and upholding pre-school
discipline. Although the overall management and coordination of ECE programmes
at the national level is the responsibility of an inter-sectoral committee
referred to as the Project Management Support Group (PMSG), it emerges that the
government does very little in terms of supporting the ECE programme. The current
devolved system to county level has shifted management of ECE to County Government.
This shift now fills the gap in the earlier Education and Training Act which is
a policy framework that directs the Ministry of Education’s provision of ECE is
the Partnership Policy, first stipulated in the Sessional Paper No. 6 of 1988
and the National Development Plan of 1989/1993. The Partnership Policy aims to
enhance the involvement of various partners in the provision of ECD services
(Ministry of Education, 2005).
4.0.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The thrust of this
study was to establish the role of communities in supporting the development of
Early Childhood centers in the study locale.
The study has established that communities are involved in the development
and management of ECE centres in several ways including both financial and
no-financial forms. However, it was further established that the level of
participation was still lower than expected. The parents seemed to be willing
but were constrained by their low socio-economic status and higher prevalence
of poverty.
From the foregoing, it was recommended that:
1.
Parents should take keen interest on the
education of their children in ECE centers just as in the other levels of
education. The parents could be enabled
and sensitized to:
a. Supervise
work done by their children daily
b. Pay the
levies in good time
c. Give
ideas on how to improve the centres
d. Give
enough support to the headteachers and teaches on matters concerning their
children’s discipline.
2.
The community should:
a. Strengthen their
financial support for ECE Centre’s.
b. Hold meetings to
strategize on improving the facilities for ECE Centre’s
c. Voice their
grievances to the government so that more support of channeled towards ECE, for
example, finances and employment teachers.
3.
The government should:
a)
Streamline ECE management by appointing a
teacher to oversee the running who could then report directly to primary school
headteacher.
b)
Put in some reasonable financial aid on this
Sector as many of the facilities on use are outdated.
c)
Advise the Quality Assurance Officers to take
time to also oversee the management of ECE centres.
d)
Sensitize the community on the need of ECE.
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