Factors influencing implementation of Secondary Education Project for Refugees: a case of Kakuma Refugee camp in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the implementation of secondary education project for refugees in Kakuma Refugee Camp. This study sought to achieve the following research objectives; to examine the influence of cultural practices on the implementation of secondary education project for Refugees in Kakuma Refugee Camp, to assess the extent to which educational resources influence the implementation of secondary education project for Refugees in Kakuma Refugee Camp, to assess the influence of influx of Refugees on the implementation of secondary education project for Refugees in Kakuma Refugee Camp and to establish the influence of foreign academic certification of Refugees on the implementation of secondary education project for Refugees in Kakuma Refugee Camp. The study was anchored on Refugee Aid Development theory by Betts and Gorman. The researcher employed descriptive survey research design. The study targeted all 12,783 students in the 5 secondary schools in Kakuma refugee camp in the year 2020. Determination of the sample size was done using Krejcie and Morgan Sampling Frame in which 378 students were proportionately selected Five school principals were sampled using purposive sampling. The students who participated in each school were selected using simple random sampling. Two research instruments were used to collect data, that is, self-constructed questionnaires and interview guides. Pilot study was carried in two schools in the camp to establish the reliability and validity of the research instruments comprising of 20 boys and 20 girls who were proportionately selected from form one to form four. Data on cultural practices, educational resources, influx of Refugees and foreign academic certification was analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations) and testing of hypothesis. Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The results were presented using tables. In total, out of the 378 questionnaires issued, 320 were returned and used in data analysis. The overall return rate for this study was 85%. Five principals were interviewed and all the interview guides were included in data analysis translating to 100 return rate. The percentage of male respondents was 74% while that of females was 26%. The mean age was 20.13 with a standard deviation of 3.02. The study results revealed that cultural practices such as early marriages, forced marriages and female genital mutilation affected the implementation of secondary education projects in Kakuma Refugee Camp. Lack of adequate education resources such as teaching and learning materials, physical facilities and qualified teachers, was also found to affect the implementation of secondary education projects in Kakuma Refugee Camp. The study also revealed that the high population of refugees affected the implementation of secondary education projects in camp. Even though the influence was not statistically significant, it was noted that having large population of refugees in the schools strained the available resources and compromised the quality of secondary education offered leading to poor academic performance in the schools. The issue of national examination certificates for secondary schools being different in different countries was also found to significantly affect the implementation of secondary education projects in Kakuma Refugee Camp.