School-based factors influencing implementation of child rights education in public primary schools in Dagoretti District, Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the school based factors that affect the implementation of child rights education in public primary schools in Dagorretti District, Nairobi County. The study sought to establish the administrative factors that influenced the implementation of child rights education in public primary schools in Dagoretti District and how the teacher- pupil ratio affected the same. The study also looked at the extent to which instructional facilities affected the implementation of child rights education and determined the teaching methods used in the implementation of child rights in public primary schools. In total 417 teachers and 2,915 standard 8 pupils in all the 23 public primary schools in Dagoretti District were targeted. The study used the descriptive survey design and employed the use of two sets of questionnaires: a teachers and a pupil’s questionnaire. Random sampling was adopted in the administration of the questionnaires. In total 70 teachers and 216 pupils participated in the study. The use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences was employed in the analysis of data. Quantitative data was generated from the close-ended questions while qualitative data was from the open-ended questions in both the questionnaires. Findings of the study revealed that despite the teachers and pupils being knowledgeable on child rights there were cases of child abuse within and outside the school compound. Among the school based factors that influenced the implementation of child education in the public primary was administrative factors, coordination between the school administration and financial resources. High teacher – pupil ratio in public primary schools have contributed negatively to the implementation of child right education. Inadequacy of school facilities had further aggravated the situation with many cases of child abuse occurring within the school compound as result of this inadequacy. Inadequate toilet facilities were breeding ground for verbal abuses while the schools fields provided a fertile ground for physical and verbal abuse. In this study, girls experienced sexual abuse the most. The study found out that most of the teachers used only one teaching method which was mainly group discussion to impart knowledge to their pupils. In conclusion, financial resources allocated to the primary schools affected greatly the implementation of child rights education with a high teacher-pupil ratio further aggravating the situation. With most of the public primary schools having inadequate instructional materials and with most of the teachers employing the use of only one form of teaching method the implementation of child’s right education was greatly hampered in these schools. The study recommends that adequate measures in schools be put in place to ensure the sustainable implementation of child right education. This should include the provision of enough financial resources to cater for the implementation of child rights education. The study also recommends that more teachers be posted to these primary schools and efforts be made to construct more classrooms. In addition to this, the Ministry of Education should move in and provide each and every pupil and the respective schools with adequate instructional material. Teachers on the other hand should be directed to ensure that they use various teaching methods with an aim of increasing the pupil’s participation in the class setting