PARENT OCCUPATION AND PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN’S LEARNING PERFORMANCE
PARENT OCCUPATION AND PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN’S LEARNING PERFORMANCE
Magondu Karimi Reginah - Department of Early Childhood & Special Needs Education, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Dr. Juliet W. Mugo - Department of Early Childhood & Special Needs Education, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Prof. Catherine Gakii Murungi - Department of Early Childhood & Special Needs Education, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Learning performance is the behaviour, knowledge and understanding of a learner that can be measured in the short term. A concern among students, parents and teachers was poor learning performance among pre-primary two (PP2) children in Kirinyaga East Sub-county (KESC), Kirinyaga County, Kenya. A Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) report indicated a consecutive decline in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) performance in KESC between 2017 and 2019, while pre-primary education, the foundation for learning, was excluded from such investigations. It remained unclear whether children’s low performance was related to parents’ type of occupation, given their expected partnership with schools. This study therefore examined the relationship between parents’ occupation and PP2 children’s learning performance in KESC. A correlational research design, anchored on Maslow’s (1987) theory of motivation, was adopted. Purposive sampling selected Kirinyaga County and KESC, while proportionate stratified random sampling selected 13 of 45 PP2 schools, 140 of 1,421 parents, of whom 135 participated, and 13 of 99 PP2 teachers. Data were collected through parent questionnaires, teacher interview schedules and analysis of children’s progress records. Instruments were piloted in two PP2 schools; content validity was applied, and split-half reliability yielded 0.71. Qualitative data were thematically analysed, while quantitative data used descriptive statistics and chi-square at 0.05 significance. Findings showed 47.4% of parents engaged in crop farming, 26.0% in business, 10.4% in casual employment, 5.9% in formal employment, 5.2% in livestock farming and 4.4% in other activities. Chi-square results (χ² = 8.0974, df = 6, p = .01, rxy = .781) indicated a statistically significant relationship. The study recommends income-generating and skills-training programmes and greater sensitisation of parents on balancing work demands with active involvement in PP2 education.
