The effects of child labour on pupil’s participation in Primary school education in Kirisia Division,Samburu County, Kenya
Abstract
The main objective of the study was to examine various forms of child labour, causes of
child labour, the community’s perception towards child labour and the effect of child
labour on participation of primary school education in Samburu County. The study
adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population comprised of pupils, class
teachers and Head teachers from eight primary schools in Samburu County, District
Education Officer in Samburu, parents and local chiefs. Primary data was collected using
questionnaires and interview guides. The analysis was done using descriptive statistics
generated from Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software.
The study findings revealed that child labour in Samburu County was prevalent and has
adversely affected the level of pupil participation in primary school education. Child
labour has led to decline in pupils' academic performance, drop out from schools,
decreased levels of literacy in the County, and increase in gender disparity in education
within the region. Child labour was associated with poor concentration in class, increased
rates of teenage pregnancies, engagement in drug abuse and involvement in armed
conflicts.
The main factors leading to the problem of child labor were found to be high poverty
levels in the region, harmful cultural beliefs and practices, lack of appropriate
government policies, ignorance and illiteracy among parents as well as loss of parents.
The study has recommended that the problem of child labour in Samburu County can be
tackled if the local community is adequately empowered with knowledge on the
importance of education in the present day society; government policies should be
reviewed and streamlined to cater for educational challenges that are specific to arid and
semi-arid areas; education policy implementation at local level in Samburu County
should be re-evaluated and parents should be fully involved in tackling the problem of
child labour. The measures aimed at promoting education in Samburu County should
give specific consideration to poverty levels in the region, cultural beliefs and practices
and appropriateness of government policies.
vi
The study also recommends further research on the effectiveness of government policies
in mitigating the falling levels of pupil participation in primary school education in
Samburu County. It also recommends a replication of this study in other child labour
prone areas such as slums and miraa growing areas.
Citation
A research project submitted to the department of educational foundations in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the award of masters degree of University of NairobiPublisher
Department of Education Foundations, Univerasity of Nairobi
Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5964]