Influence of the School Feeding Programme on educational outcomes of pupils in public pre-primary schools in Mombasa County, Kenya.
- March 5, 2022
- Posted by: rsispostadmin
- Categories: IJRISS, Psychology, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue II, February 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186
Logedi Josephine Chahilu*, Mary Jebii Chemagosi (PhD) and Sellah Lusweti (PhD),
Department of Educational Psychology and Special Needs, Pwani University, Kenya
*Corresponding author
Abstract
School feeding programmes constitute critical interventions that have been introduced in many developed and developing countries of the world to address poverty, stimulate school enrolment and enhance pupils’ performance (Adekunle & Ogbodu, 2016). Through the SFP, children are energized and their class concentration is enhanced. In Kenya, the SFP supports the achievement of educational outcomes with a view to obtain Kenyan educational goal of free and compulsory education, and 100% transition. In cognizance of the foregoing, the objective of this study was to determine the level to which the school feeding programme influences educational outcomes in public pre-primary schools in Mombasa County, Kenya. Descriptive research design informed the study. The study’s target population was all the 97 head teachers, 388 teachers and 7 Early Education supervisors in Mombasa County. A sample of 78 head teachers, 116 teachers and 7 supervisors was obtained based on stratified, purposive and simple random techniques. Questionnaire, interview schedule and observation guide were the three instruments used to collect data. Qualitative data was analysed thematically in prose and narrative forms. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics by means of frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations. T-tests was used to indicate differences among sub-groups that existed. The study revealed that provision of the school feeding programme positively influenced learners’ enrollment, class attendance, retention, participation in outdoor activities, progression to the next class level, health and nutrition and transition. Using t-test, it was established that schools with SFPs had higher educational outcomes than those without SFP (t = .293, p = 0.005, N = 53). The study recommended the Ministry of education, Mombasa County government, parents and schools to seek for alternative strategies of providing school feeding programmes among pre-primary children.
Key words: school feeding programme, public primary schools, educational outcomes
1.0 Introduction
The 1990 Jomtien conference held in Thailand laid emphasis on Education For All (EFA) and declared that every person has a right to access quality education irrespective of their gender, race, colour or region. This declaration was further supported by the World Education Framework held in Dakar (2000), in Senegal. The Senegal forum focused its attention on provision of free and compulsory primary education for the vulnerable and marginalized children by 2015 (UNESCO, 2015). This position is further cemented by goal number four of the 2030 vision agenda for Sustainable Development; it is envisaged that all children will access inclusive, free and compulsory education without discriminative bias (UNESCO, 2017). Moreover, the third Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) laid emphasis at ensuring that all school going children accomplish primary education of adequate quality (UNESCO, 2010; Republic of Kenya, 2017).
