Effects of government policies on refugee pupils’ access to primary education in kamukunji district, nairobi county kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of government policies on refugee access to Primary Education, in Kamukunji District, Nairobi County. Specifically the study examined how free primary education, policy on examination registration and policy on recognition of foreign education affected access to primary education by refugee pupils. The study employed a descriptive survey research design. The target population for this study comprised of 17 head teachers from public primary schools with refugee children, 351 teachers from the schools and 3,500 pupils from public primary schools in Kamukunji District. Using The Central Limit Theorem, the researcher sampled 5 primary schools, of targeted 17 schools . 7 head teachers, 40 t4achers and 351 refugee pupils were sampled for the study , thi was 11.5% 0f the target population. The study utilized questionnaires for head teachers, teachers and refugee pupil. Cronbach’s Alpha method was used to estimate the reliability of the questionnaires. A correlation coefficient of 0.74 was obtained for the teacher’s questionnaires and 0.72 for head teachers’and 0.71 for pupils questionnaires. Data from the field was collected, cleaned, coded and recorded. The responses to the items in the instruments were cleaned and assigned codes and labels. Frequency counts of the responses were then obtained to generate descriptive information about the respondents and to illustrate the general trend of findings on the various variables that were under investigation. The collected data was analyzed qualitatively along the specific objectives and the basic quantitative data was analyzed using percentages. The findings of the study were presented using tables and charts since summarized large quantities of data whilst making the report reader friendly. The study established that FPE policy guidelines were not clear on the refugees’ pupils, education policies did not adequately cover the refugees’ children and that most of the refugees in Kamukunji District are in Kenya without proper documentation. It also established that the refugees’ pupils have undergone a different education system than the Kenyan education system and therefore, the certification system of the country of origin is totally different. It was found to be difficult to establish exactly the level a child was, before he or she left school and that language barriers hinders education and learning opportunities to the refugees. The study recommends that the government should formulate policies improve FPE to allow easy access of education by refugee pupils, make examination policy more flexible for refugee pupils and recognize foreign documentation such as academic reports and mark sheets for easy transfer.