SELECTED FACTORS INFLUENCING IMPLEMENTATION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT POLICY IN PUBLIC PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION IN NAROK NORTH SUB COUNTY , NAROK COUNTY KENYA

Abstract

ABSTRACT Early Childhood Education (ECE) comprises essential programmes and activities which are very important to the holistic development of a child. This is one of the main reasons why the government through policy interventions has given a lot of attention to ensuring that the program becomes a success. The implementation of the ECDE policy in Preschools is however, faced with many factors. Some of these factors are general, affecting the program as a whole while others are specific to counties such as Narok. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors influencing implementation of ECDE policy in public pre-school education in Narok North Sub County. Specifically, the study sought to; assess the influence of awareness of the ECDE policy on the implementation of ECDE Policy in Narok North sub county, evaluate the influence of teachers’ characteristics on the implementation of ECDE Policy in Narok North sub county, establish the influence of resources on the implementation of ECDE Policy in Narok North sub county and determine the influence of community attitudes towards the implementation of ECDE policy in public preschool education in Kenya. The target population constituted 94 ECDE managers, 188 ECDE teachers, and 6 DICECE officers in Narok North Sub County. The study used stratified and simple random sampling method to select the 172 respondents from the study population. A structured questionnaire and interview guide were developed in line with the study objectives. A pilot test was conducted and the results used to test reliability coefficient of the questionnaire which was established to be 0.7. The data was organized using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency and percentages by the help of computer software). The results revealed that the implementation of ECDE policy is influenced by low levels of awareness among the stakeholders including the teachers and the managers of the ECDE programs. The results also show that the implementation of ECDE policy was also influenced by the teacher’s characteristics defined by their attitude and perceptions, skills, knowledge and abilities. It was further established that implementation of the ECDE policy was influenced by lack of resources to support the programme in Narok North SubCounty. It was on this basis that the study concluded that implementation of ECDE policy was faced by various factors that have to be addressed. On the level of was influenced by the four selected factors; awareness of the policy among the stakeholders, the lack of resources to support the implementation of the program, the teachers characteristics and the negative community attitudes of the community. The study therefore recommends that for there to be effective implementation of the ECDE policy in North Sub County, there is need to ensure that all the teachers and managers are aware of the policy, the required ECDE resources are made available to support the program, the teachers are motivated and effectively equipped with the required skills to be able to manage the ECDE centers and programs and that the community must be well sensitized to ensure that the negative attitudes does not influence the implementation of the policy. The findings of the study were beneficial to all the pre-school in the county. The teachers and the ministry of education will also shed light on policy issues that influence the management of the ECDE programmes.