| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to establish influence of school feeding programme (SFP) on pupils' participation in public primary school education in Nairobi West District, Kenya. The objectives of the study were; to establish how adequacy of food influences class attendance, determine how regular supply of food contribute to pupils' retention, establish how the kind of food provided to the pupils under School Feeding Programme (SFP) enhances pupils' academic performance in education, and determine the extent to which the SFP influences development of pupils discipline and finally establish the extent to which SFP influences the level of learners involvement in co-curricular activities. The study was guided by Vroom's Valence- Expectancy theory of motivation, with food as the key motivator to education.
The study used survey design and targeted all the 44 primary schools in Nairobi West District with an established SFP. A sample of 18 schools was selected. The respondents were head teachers, 162 teachers and 360 pupils selected using stratified random sampling. The filled questionnaires were coded, cleaned and analyzed using frequencies, tables, graphs and figures generated by computer, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).
The study established that class attendance in the district was influenced by adequacy of food provided to pupils under SFP. Discipline of pupils had also improved in the schools with the introduction of the programme and most of the pupils did not want to break school rules so that they could remain in school and to continue benefiting. The level of involvement in co-curricular activities also increased. The study recommends that since the food distributed under the SFP was largely donations from foreign countries, the government needs to encourage home grown food to complement the programme.
The study also recommends an awareness creation of the programme to enhance parents' full participation in the program. The study recommends further research to establish how the schools without the SfP cope up with the issues of enrollment attendance and retention, a study to establish the effectiveness of SFP in the other districts in Kenya and finally a study to establish the nutritional value of food provided to the pupils under SFP. | en_US |
