Selected Teacher Competencies and Classroom Service Delivery in Public Early Years Education Centres in Kapseret Sub County, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

The entry of county governments in Kenya since 2013 brought hope to the revival of public Early Years Education (EYE) centres (formerly called pre-primary schools) that had been neglected for a long time by the national government. The curriculum demands that EYE teachers have the requisite competencies and skills to implement it in their classrooms. According to a 2019 report from the Kapseret Sub County Director of Education, a significant (65%) of learners in grades 1 to 3 could not read, write or count well as expected. The performance of learners could be associated with teachers’ classroom service delivery indicators. This called for research to establish how early years’ education selected teacher competencies influences classroom service delivery. The purpose of this research was to determine the selected teacher competencies and classroom service delivery in public pre-primary schools in Kapseret Sub County, Kenya. The study’s specific objectives were: to analyse how teacher level of education influence on classroom service delivery, to assess how teachers’ evaluation techniques affects classroom service delivery, to determine how teachers’ continuous professional development affect classroom service delivery and to find out the effect of teachers work experience on classroom service delivery in public EYE centres in Kapseret Sub County. This study was anchored on the human capital theory. The study methodology was mixed method one that combined quantitative and qualitative techniques. The research design is descriptive that targeted 3 EYE field officers, 87 headteachers and 153 EYE teachers. The sample size involved 3 EYE field officers, 26 head teachers and 111 EYE teachers who were chosen through purposive and simple random sampling methods. The used in collecting data were questionnaires for EYE teachers and interview guides for EYE field officers and head teachers. These instruments were tested for their validity using expert judgement and reliability using test–retest technique. Data was collected after receiving permission, consent and authority to collect data from various agencies. The data that was collected was subjected to quantitative analysis using descriptive which consisted of frequencies, percentages means and standard deviations and Spearman’s Rank Order correlation (rho) statistics. Computer software (SPSS) aided in data coding, entry and analysis. The findings are presented in narrations for qualitative data and tables and figures for quantitative output. The research found that teacher level of education (Rho=0.387, p=0.001), teacher classroom evaluation (Rho=0.260, p=0.001), teacher work experience (Rho=0.396, p=0.001) and teacher participation in continuous professional development programmes (Rho=0.357, p=0.001) had a statistically significant positive effect on (p<0.05) classroom service delivery levels in public EYE centres in Kapseret Sub County. The study concluded that selected teacher competencies positively affected classroom service delivery in public EYE centres in Kapseret Sub County. It is recommended that teachers should be supported to undertake in-service training courses. Additionally, the county government should employ more EYE teachers to enhance the evaluation and feedback activities in schools. Further investigation can be undertaken to determination the influence pf selected teacher competencies on their satisfaction level in EYE centres.