Comparative Study Of Implementation Of Early Childhood Development And Education In Homa Bay, Kisumu, Migori And Siaya Counties In Kenya

Abstract

The management of Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) in Kenya has been under different organizations which include local authorities, non-governmental organizations, private sector and the national government until 2013 when the county governments took over management of public ECDEs. However, information regarding the implementation of ECDE programmes in terms of investment in infrastructure, quality teaching as well as teaching and learning resources has remained scanty. The purpose of this study was to investigate similarities and differences in the level of implementation of ECDE in public schools in Homa Bay, Kisumu, Migori and Siaya Counties. Specific objectives were to determine the level of investment in infrastructure; the quality of teaching; level of investment in teaching and learning resources; and the challenges facing implementation of ECDE programmes. The researcher adopted Vygotsky‟s Socio-cultural and Zone of Proximal Developmenttheory, and Hawes and Stephens (1990) Theory of Goals, Context and Agency. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The target population comprised of 27 sub county administrators and three officials in charge of ECDE from each of the four counties. Census method was used to select all the 12 officials in the four counties and 27 sub county administrators. Document analysis was used for collecting data on the level of investment in infrastructure, quality of teaching, and the level of investment in teaching and learning resources. Open ended questionnaires were used to collect data concerning challenges facing implementation of ECDE. Validity and reliability was enhanced through expert consultation and the use of multiple sources of data, whereby information was crosschecked and the authenticity of individual accounts assessed. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data obtained from documents. Findings revealed that the counties did not have properly kept ECDE records. The records indicated ECDE expenditure was as low as Kshs 90.00 per learner in some counties prior to 2013 while allocation for each ECDE learner was between Kshs 2,053.00 and Kshs 6,102.00 in 2016. Before 2013, class size was between 52 and 64 while in 2016, it was between 33 and 101 learners. Teachers were found to have good level of training, although teacher - learner ratio were relatively higher in 2016 with an average of 1:56 learners compared to the period prior to 2013 when it was 1:53. There was inadequate teaching materials, few teachers, inadequate infrastructure, malnutrition, and poor fee payment on the side of parents. It was recommended that investment in infrastructure alongside teaching and learning materials be improved in all ECDE centres. More teachers should also be employed in ECDE centres. The study recommends that further research be done on the following areas: strategies to enhance records keeping for ECDE enrolment, national government expenditure, budgetary allocations and the number of classrooms by the county governments; factors determining sufficiency of recruitment of qualified and gender proportion of ECDE teachers among public pre-schools by county governments; and factors determining participation of parents in the activities of ECDE and their implications on provision of teaching and learning materials, quality teachers, and infrastructure among public pre-schools in the counties.