Influence of Paternal Involvement on Children’s Performance in Number Work and Language Activities in Public Preschools in Starehe Subcounty, Nairobi County
Abstract
This study sought to assess the influence of paternal involvement on pre-school
children’s performance in number work and language activities in public preschools
schools in Kenya, using schools in Starehe sub-county, Nairobi County as a
representative case study. To this end, the study carried out empirical analysis on the
primary data collected from head teachers, pre-school teachers, fathers and the
preschool children in Starehe sub-county using questionnaires, interview schedules and
standardized test. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the
data using frequencies and percentages. The study involved 4 school head teachers, 12
pre-school teachers, 24 fathers and 24 pre-school children giving a total of 64
participants. The results were presented in form of tables. The results based on the data
and available literature shows that paternal involvement in the learning of the preschool
children by directly participating in activities such as signing the diary and
attending school meetings improves the child’s performance significantly. The study
established that when father’s involvement in the pre-school learning is limited to
paying school fees and buying only the required books, the impact on performance in
number work and language activities is much lower compared to when the father is
directly involved by helping the child with homework related work. Based on the
findings in the study, recommendations are made to policy makers, school head
teachers, teachers and parents to develop mechanisms that will motivate the male
parents to take active role in the learning of the pre-school children. When fathers are
directly involved in school decision making, their presence will be visible not only in
the performance of their children but also in the transformation of the society.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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