The Influence Of Parental Involvement On Performance Of Ecde Children: A Case Of Manga Division, Nyamira County

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was influence of parental involvement on performance of ECDE children: a case of Manga Division, Nyamira County. The specific objectives were: To investigate the extent to which parental income influences parental involvement on the performance of ECDE children; To establish the extent to which education level of a parent influences involvement on the performance of ECDE children; Determine the extent to which parental occupation influences parental involvement on the performance of ECDE children and; Establish the extent to which parental involvement influences performance of ECDE children. The study employed descriptive research design which used a mixed method approach for qualitative and quantitative technique. The study targeted it targeted 899 respondents who presented a sample size of 136 participants. Simply Random Selection was carried out to select the 29 out of 73 public ECDE centres, stratified sampling was done to select on pre unit ECDE teachers in every ECDE centre and the chief was selected purposively having been the only one in the area of study. To get parent respondents, the research assistant employed convenience sampling where the 1st parent within the ECDE centre environment was taken as the respondent. The questionnaires was used to collect data from parents while interview schedules were employed for data collection from the ECDE teachers and area chief. An observation checklist was used to observe learning materials and facilities available in the selected ECDE centres. The collected data was analyzed by the use of statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS). The study findings revealed that parental income, education level of parents, and parental occupation influenced the performance of ECDE children .The study recommends that the government should take part in initiating free preschool education to enable the preschool children to realize their academic dreams since most of the parents in the division are economically challenged and so cannot afford to educate their children. Adult education should be intensified by the government to help those parents that are not well educated to appreciate the importance of getting involved in their children’s academic matters. The government to enforce protection laws to ensure preschoolers are protected from challenges of their family status; for example, enforcing the law on the right to education for all school going age children, and right to basic needs if preschoolers are to be prepared for entry into class one.