Impact of Parental socio-economic status on participation of children in ECE centres in Ruiru District, Kiambu county, Kenya

Abstract

There is a growing dedication to growing and enhancing all-inclusive early childhood care and schooling, specifically for the most susceptible and deprived children in nations around the world. However, young children coming from financially deprived households get into school having much less academic abilities compared to their much more advantaged colleagues. In Kenya, there is prevalent anecdotal proof of declines in enrolment at ECD Centres, particularly in poor counties and low-income urban areas. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of parental socio-economic status on participation of children in ECE centres. The study explored 4 specific aspects related to parental socioeconomic status: parental occupation, involvement, education level, and attitudes (beliefs). The outcomes of this research could be a key component in formulating evidence-based, long-term and short-term educational policies by the Ministry of Education that would help the country to attain the goal of providing quality ECDE for the disadvantaged and consequently achieve the goal of universal primary education. The study employed a survey research design. The target population of this study was the pre-school teachers, and parents at the 204 ECE centres in Ruiru District of Kiambu County. The sample size is 95 parents and 41 teachers. Simple random sampling technique was implemented for this research. The research adopts a questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. The data from the investigation was analysed by making use of descriptive and inferential statistics. Responses to the questionnaire was documented, coded, filled in an Excel spreadsheet, and moved to the IBM SPSS statistics software for exhaustive analysis. The study concluded that socioeconomic status of the parent was shown to impact the participation of children in ECE through factors like parental involvement, education level, attitudes (beliefs) and occupation. The more involved the parent is in the education of the child, the better the educational outcomes. Increased levels of education by the parent are seen to correspond to better educational outcomes. Interestingly, this has been proven to have no relationship with the educational expectations of the parent on the academic achievement of the child. Additionally, the attitude of the parent has an impact on the participation of the child in ECE, as does the occupation. Increased occupational status corresponded with elevated academic performance by the child. The study recommended that since seeing that the SES of the parents has a profound effect on the participation in ECE, it is important for the government to formulate programs and policies that mitigate these effects so as to improve participation in ECE.