Journal of Advances in Education and Philosophy (JAEP)
Volume-2 | Issue-04 | 177-185
Original Research Article
Implications of Free Primary Education Policy on Access to Primary Schooling among Pastoralist Communities in Kenya
Dr. Richard Kipngeno Ronoh
Published : July 30, 2018
Abstract
The complex relationship between pastoral communities and their socioeconomic background casts more doubts as to how the local people are involved in
policy process of improving access to Primary Schooling, Mugwe, 2006. The study
reiterates the usefulness of case studies for educational research given its variety and
complexity in making formative evaluation and in educational policy making. This is in
agreement with Cletus, B [34] which emphasizes the critical role of evidence- based
policy and practice. Investigation was carried out to examine implications of Free
Primary Education (FPE) on access to schooling. The study adopted ethnographic
research design that utilized purposive sampling technique and saturation procedure to
select a total of 170 respondents that included head teachers, teachers, parents, school
dropouts, educational managers, community leaders, and Non-Governmental
Organizations drawn from Turkana South sub-county. Purposive sampling was used to
select individuals, groups and organizations that would provide insight into the study.
Data was collected using focus group interviews, structured and unstructured
interviews, observation, and document analysis. Subsequently, data was collected by
use of questionnaire that was sent to head-teachers and education officials and was used
only to validate the qualitative data. The collected data was coded, analyzed, described
and summarized. The statistical package for social scientists (SPSS) 12.0 for Windows
was used to analyze coded information for the purposes of checking for internal
consistency, creation of composite scores, and correlation. The study identified various
implications of FPE on Primary Schooling for pastoralists as the following: increased
enrolment; shortage of teachers; high transition rate; poor handling of children with
special needs; increased dropout rate and lack of funds for school feeding program. The
findings also concluded that if the roles of various stakeholders were properly
articulated, it would improve access to Primary Schooling among pastoralist
communities.