| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to examine how school based factors influence
the participation of OVCs in primary education in Kamukunji District, Nairobi
County. The objectives of the study were to find out from the head teachers,
teachers and pupilsthe influence of school levies, feeding programme, teacher
training and stigmatization on the participation of OVCs in primary
education.Descriptive survey design was used to conduct the study. The target
population for this study was all the OVCs in the seventeen (17) public
primary schools in Kamukunji District. Census method was used to sample all
the 17 schools. A sample size of 17 head teachers in the selected schools was
automatically selected. In order to obtain a sample for the teachers and the
pupils the researcher used the Krejcie, R.V. & Morgan, (1970) table for
determining sample size of 220 teachers. A sample size of 320 pupils was
sampled using Probability Proportional to Size (PPS). Random sampling was
finally applied to get the respondents among the teachers and the pupils.
The research instruments used in data collection were questionnaires for the
three clusters of respondents. The questionnaires were validated through
appraisal from the supervisors and education administration experts from the
department and then subjected to a pilot study. The instrument was tested for
reliability through test-retest technique. The three sets of questionnaires had a
correlation coefficient of 0.88 for the head teachers, 0.84 for the teachers and
0.78 for the pupils, hence they were reliable. Descriptive statistics was used to
analyse data which was assembled, coded with the assistance of Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programmes which generated frequency
tables, percentages and bar graphs.
The finding of the study showed that majority of the head teachers and
teachers had the opinion that the school had operational policies on OVCs.
The pupils however, seemed unsure of the presence of the policy as only 35%
stated that the policy was present in the school. Majority of the teachers and
pupils asserted that the school usually charged school levies to the OVCs.
Majority of the teachers stated that the lack of sensitization on the government
policy on handling of OVCs was the main reason of the policy’s absence in
the schools.
The majority of the head teachers and teachers strongly agreed with the
assertion that teacher training assisted the teachers in handling the OVCs. The
results showed that majority of the head teachers and teachers strongly agreed
with the statement that teacher training on OVCs related issues translated into
higher retention of OVCs in the schools.
The majority of the head teachers strongly agreed that the government
sponsors teachers for OVCs related training. Majority of the teachers stated
that they were undecided on the truthfulness of the assertion that the
government sponsors them for OVCs related courses. All the head teachers
and teachers strongly agreed that teacher training generally changes the
attitude of the teachers in handling the OVCs.
All the head teachers stated that the school feeding programme improves
performance and enrolment of pupils in the school. They also said that the
feeding programme leads to retention of pupils in the schools. The head
teachers unanimously agreed that salaries for cooks were the major challenge
facing the school feeding programme. Majority of the head teachers and
teachers had the view that the NGOs were the major providers of sponsors of
the school feeding programme. Other major player for sponsoring the
programme was the church.
All the head teachers, majority of the teachers and pupils strongly agreed that
stigmatization of the OVCs affected their school performance. The head
teachers were undecided on the statement that discrimination, isolation and
stigmatization of OVCs are widespread in the schools. However, majority of
the teachers agreed and the pupils strongly agreed thatdiscrimination, isolation
and stigmatization of OVCs are widespread in schools.
The recommendations of the study based on the findings were that the
Ministry of Education should enhance formulation and implementation on the
most appropriate, and effective policy to use in the identification of
methodologies on the improvement of participation of OVCs in school. The
Ministry of Education should also conduct seminars and workshops for
sensitizing school head teachers, school management and the community at
large about the possible reasons responsible for orphans’ dropping out of
school. The school should pay more emphasis on creating conducive
environment for the OVCs to feel accommodated and encouraged to
participate in the teaching/ learning process. | en_US |
