Selected socio-economic factors influencing parental involvement in public pre-schools in Turbo sub-county, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

Parents are the prime educators of their children at infancy stage till they attend pre-school. They remain a major influence on their children’s learning through their early years, school and beyond. Their involvement in pre-school education is very vital since it determines the kind of foundation accorded to the child for future learning. Therefore, this study sought to determine whether the selected socio-economic factors influenced parental involvement in public pre-schools in Turbo sub-county. Specifically, the study sought to establish whether the levels of income, family size, occupation and levels of education of parents influence their involvement in public pre-schools in Turbo Sub-county. The study used the symbolic interaction theory. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. Stratified sampling technique was used to select pre-schools because they are categorized according to zones. Simple random sampling technique was used to select parents from the selected pre-schools. The study used 228 parents as the main respondents and l9 pre-school teachers. The questionnaire was used to collect data from parents while the interview schedule was used to collect data from the teachers. The validity of the research instruments was done through comments and reviews made by the experts in the Depaitment of Psychology, Counseling and Educational Foundations. A pilot study was done by administering 30 questionnaires to parents in three pre-schools which were not included in the study. The reliability of instrument was determined by Cronbach’s Coefficient in which a reliability index of 0.75 was obtained. Quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics included the frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations while inferential statistics used was multiple regression. The findings were presented in bar graphs and tables. Qualitative data was categorized according to the study themes and presented in a narrative fonn. The study found that there is a significant relationship between the family size, level of education, occupation and the income of parents on their involvement in public pre-schools. The study recommends that the government of Kenya should consider funding early childhood.