JA-Education

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Open Access
The question of the standard English model in the achievement of universal primary education in Kenya
(Journal of language, technology and entrepreneurship in Africa, 2008-09-01) Njoroge, Martin C.; Nyamasyo, Eunice A.
English language is not only one of the official languages in Kenya but also a medium of instruction in Kenyan schools. The assumption is that at all school levels, the teachers, who are also the main linguistic models to the learners are excellent in their command of the language. There is need to investigate the reality of the English classroom in Kenya since this assumption may not necessarily be a representation of the actual reality. With variation in the Kenyan classrooms mainly because of other international languages spoken in Kenya and the fact that the ethnicity variable impacts on the spoken English used by the teachers within their classrooms, it is a requirement to determine an exact model that learners can be presented with when their teachers are speaking the language in classroom. The second millennium development goal targets the achievement of universal primary education by 2015. In order to achieve this, better education is crucial since it enhances economic and social development of a country as one of the ways of ending poverty. Kenya's ministry of education has implemented the Kenya Education Sector Support program as a road map to universal primary education, yet other issues such as language in education are yet to be addressed. For instance, the English syllabus used in Kenyan schools states clearly that the model language to be used in schools should be the commonwealth variety derived from British standard English.
Open Access
Co-occurrence of Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Among Secondary School Students in Kiambu and Nairobi Counties Kenya
(International Journal of Education and Research, 2013-03) Oteyo, John S.; Kariuki, Mary; Mwenje, Margaret K.;
Secondary school students engage in behaviors like use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs that compromise their health and future potentials. However, these behaviors are preventable. The current study was designed to establish the prevalence of single and concurrent use of these drugs among students of Kiambu and Nairobi Counties of Kenya. Multi-stage, stratified proportionate, systematic and simple random sampling and purposive methods were used to select participating counties (n=2), district (n=8) schools (n=71) and students (n=1389). However 1088 students were included at analysis as some were eliminated due to inconsistent responses and non responses. Self administered questionnaire was used to collect data on demographics and alcohol, tobacco and other drug behaviors. Frequency, percentages, Chi Square and logistic regression were used to analyze data. Alcohol was the most used drug (23.5%) followed by khat, cigarette, smokeless tobacco and bhang in that order. Of the current alcohol drinkers, 47.6, 33.1, 28.7 and 26.6% had also used khat, bhang, smokeless tobacco and cigarettes respectively. From logic regressions analyses, alcohol drinkers than abstainers were 6.198 times (95% C.I: 4.146-9.266) more likely to be khat users whereas cigarette smokers than non-smokers were 15.264 times (95% C.I: 8.170-28.519) more likely to use smokeless tobacco. These results provide empirical evidences for a comprehensive prevention and intervention programs that target multiple risk behaviors to promote global health among secondary school students.
Open Access
Emerging religious trends in Kenyan school communities and innovative contextualization
(Open science repository of religion and technology, 2014-07-21) Nderitu, Joyce Wanjiku; Wambugu, Simon Nderitu
African contexts are characterized by a number of outstanding religious trends, one of which is the emergence of new religions. A study was carried out on innovative and contextualization of Christianity by African christian teachers in 40 secondary school communities in Nyandarua county, Kenya. Notably, emerging religious trends, ways in which they influence doctrine, faith and practices of christian teachers, strengths or weaknesses introduced by emerging doctrinal teachings, faiths or practices on capacity to contextualize personal faith within school communities and viable strategies to minimize the challenges in order to contextualize particularistic doctrines, faiths and practices were identified. One of the outstanding finding was that teachers' efficiency in contextualization process varied with gender, school, teaching subject, and relationship with God and opportunities available. The strongest recommendation that viable contextualization programme be developed using the guidelines in the curriculum of christian religious education and bible
Open Access
Development of a virtual space for online supervision and mentoring as a novel architecture for learning and improving the quality graduates studies in Africa
(African Biodiversity Conservation and Innovations Centre, 2014-07-25) Kiambi, D K; Ndung’u-Skilton, J; Bji Vaate, M
The quality of tertiary agricultural education is critical because it determines the expertise and competence of scientists, professionals, technicians, teachers, and civil service and business leaders in all aspects of agriculture and related industries. It raises their capacities to access knowledge and adapt it to the prevailing circumstance, and to generate new knowledge and impart it to others. Unfortunately, the quality of graduates is deteriorating as universities experience overwhelmingly high lecturer-to-student ratios and declining public funding yet the agricultural labour market is increasingly demanding more fit-for-purpose graduates. There is also evidence of agricultural labour markets expressing low confidence on the graduates (RUFORUM, 2009), primarily as a result of insufficient supervision and mentorship. Employability of the graduates is thus diminishing when they are most needed to drive the agricultural innovation processes in order to revitalise agriculture, boost economic recovery and growth and hasten attainment of the MDGs. The demand for tertiary education has continued to rise (World Bank, 2009) and subsequently, the number of both public and private Universities is increasing tremendously. However, the majority are overwhelmed by the worsening lecturer-to-student ratios with some lecturers now supervising up to 20 graduate students over one academic year. For instance, annual growth in graduate student population at Egerton University and JKUAT in Kenya increased from 45% in 2003 to 110% between 2007 and 2011 without a corresponding change in the number of supervisors. This is dramatically weakening the quality of supervision and mentorship of graduate students. There is a consensus amongst recent studies, such as those by the InterAcademy Council and the Commission for Africa, that urgent action must be taken to restore the quality of graduate and postgraduate agricultural education in Africa (FARA, 2006). The Commission for High Education in Kenya (CHE) recommends lecturer-to-student ratio of 1:10 for applied, pure and natural sciences but all the public universities only meet 44 to 58% of the required number of lecturers (Gudo et al., 2011). With this overstretched supervision capacity, the quality of the graduates and their research products is adversely affected. This is evidenced by high level of plagiarism in Theses and papers submitted for publications. This situation also lengthens the time to graduation (TTG). As universities struggle to cope with the surging numbers of graduate students, many faculty staff continue to use the conventional learning, teaching and supervision approaches based on face-to-face encounters between the students and supervisors. This is quite demanding both in time and financial resources and there is an urgent need of innovative approaches to effectively mentor and supervise the graduate students. The development of virtual online supervision and mentorship approaches therefore offer a complementary method to face-to-face contacts and are more cost-effective with wider reach and could improve the quality of graduates studies. Their use is favoured by the increased public investment in fibre optic cables and promotion of ICT.
Open Access
Mother tongue and education in Africa: Publicising the reality
(Multilingual Education, 2014-07-31) Kioko, Angelina N.; Ndung’u, Ruth W; Njoroge, Martin C; Mutiga, Jayne
Varied realities surround the use of mother tongue education in Africa. These realities are entrenched in the attitudes and misconceptions that have gone unchallenged due to inadequate literature on the successful use of mother tongues in the classroom and beyond. The realities discussed in this paper include the frustrations of children introduced to education in a foreign language; misconceptions about the success of mother tongue education; educational benefits of mother tongue education; and mother tongues and enhanced economic opportunities. The foci of this paper are the success stories from Africa and the economic benefits in the use of the mother tongue in creative media or economies. These success stories are a way of getting to stakeholders to invest in mother tongue education for there are returns on such investment. The stories are also a way of challenging scholars to get out of the conference rooms and do something gainful with the mother tongues.
Open Access
Introduction: multilingualism and education: the critical nexus
(Multilingual Education, 2014-08-19) Njoroge, Martin C.; Mwangi, Phyllis W; Ndung’u, Ruth W; Orwenjo, Daniel O
This article focuses on practices and challenges that relate to multilingualism and education in the African continent. It represents an array of selected but representative international scholarly discourse on the twin issues of multilingualism and education in Africa. The contributions are based on empirical studies, theoretical postulations and policy interrogations. Language is just one of the many factors that can contribute to the delivery of quality education. It is also a linguistic and societal reality that many developing countries are characterized by individual as well as societal multilingualism, yet a majority of multilingual societies in Africa continue to experience and even propagate a paradoxical situation in which a single foreign language is allowed to dominate in the education sector. In Kenya, for instance, the newly independent nation asserted the hegemony of English over other local languages in her first post-independence education commission (Republic of Kenya, 1964, p.24). For most African countries and other post-colonies all over the world, this has always been (ridiculously) blamed on the colonial legacy. The situation described above has often led to instruction through a language that learners do not speak. Compounded by chronic difficulties such as low levels of teacher education, poorly designed, inappropriate curricula and lack of adequate school facilities, submersion makes both learning and teaching extremely difficult, particularly when the language of instruction is also foreign to the teacher. This article therefore, presents a valuable resource for best practices. This is because the twin issues of multilingualism and education, especially with regard to basic and primary education, are so central to the development of the child that they transcend the educational context to other spheres of life, such as human rights.
Open Access
Innovative modes of discipline: Biblical and secular modes of discipline among secondary schools in Bomet county, Kenya
(International Journal Of Humanities & Social Studies, 2014-10-01) Kemunto, Gertrude Miruka; Nderitu, Joyce Wanjiku; Wambugu, Simon Nderitu
This was a comparative study of biblical and secular modes of discipline within secondary schools in Bomet County, it was important to distinguish between problems with discipline in schools and the various ways in which schools respond to those problems. The study objectives; to find out the forms of disciplinary measures used within Christians and Secular secondary schools in Bomet County; to establish the efforts in place to use positive discipline to curb infraction in Christians and Secular secondary schools within Bomet County; to investigate students’ and teachers preferences in regard to correction of infraction within Christians and Secular secondary schools in Bomet County; to establish Christians and secular methods of discipline within Christians and Secular secondary schools in Bomet County
Open Access
Status of Implementation of Life Skills Education in Public Secondary Schools in Kenya: A Case of Nyeri and Nairobi Counties
(Kenya Journal Of Educational Planning, Economics & Management, 2015) Githui, Perminus; Njoka, Johannes N.; Mwenje, Margaret
Educational systems are being reviewed to include life skills education (LSE) in their curriculum so as to enable learners take charge of their own lives and navigate successfully through the challenges of everyday living. However, the teaching methodologies in LSE are essentially participatory in nature and differ from the methods traditionally employed in normal classroom instruction. Students ought to be exposed to a variety of learning experiences for objectives of teaching LSE to be realized. In addition, like in any other subject, availability of instructional resources is essential to support the implementation of LSE. The purpose of this study is to assess the status of implementation of life skills education in public secondary schools in Nyeri and Nairobi Counties in Kenya. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The target population consisted of 300 principals and 300 heads of LSE subject in 86 and 214 public secondary schools in Nyeri and Nairobi Counties respectively. Stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques was used to select 30 (10%) schools from the two counties. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 30 principals and 30 LSE teachers from the sampled schools. Data collection instruments were an interview schedule for the teachers and the principals’ and an observation guide. A pilot study was conducted in two schools that were not part of the final study. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was computed whereby a coefficient of 0.851 was obtained the threshold of acceptance was 0.7≤ 𝛼. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 and the finding presented in for of narration, tables and figures. The findings of the study revealed that LSE was programmed in majority of schools time tables, and taught the lesson as scheduled, however, majority of schools failed to offer LSE in all classes. The schools had a shortage teachers, time constraints and pressure from stakeholders thus allocated more time to examinable subjects. Other challenges to implementation of LSE were; poor allocation of resources, lack of support from the school administration, student apathy and negative student attitudes. The study established that teachers did not employ appropriate approaches of instruction in LSE, rather the teachers adopted methods used in traditional classroom delivery to teach LSE. The rating of on selection of instructional materials by LSE teachers both counties was rated as poor. From the findings of the study, it was recommended that there was need to implementation of life skills education through observance of the Ministry of education guidelines the LSE policy with a view to oblige school administrations to realize the teaching of LSE as stipulated.
Open Access
What’s the place of cognitive linguistics in the teaching of English idioms in Kenyan classrooms?
(International Conference on Education, 2015-07-16) Gathigia, Moses G.; Njoroge, Martin C.
Cognitive linguistics posits that metaphor is a ubiquitous feature of English idioms and a powerful educational tool for both second language teachers and learners. This paper, therefore, analyses 20 purposively sampled English idioms to illustrate how cognitive linguistics can be used to comprehend English idioms. To achieve this objective, the principles of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), the dominant paradigm in Cognitive Linguistics, were employed. The study also adopted a survey research design because the focus was on analysing sampled English idioms. The data for this study were collected from the Macmillan English Dictionary (2007 edition), Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2010 edition) and the Internet. Content analysis, which is within the qualitative research paradigm, guided the analysis of the idioms. The study found that cognitive linguistics offers insightful ways on the teaching and learning of English idioms. This study recommends that for successful application of the CMT to idiom teaching and learning, teachers’ metaphorical competence needs to be enhanced since they are the implementers of the curriculum. In addition, the study recommends that the study of English idioms move from theory to practice by sensitizing learners on the pervasiveness of metaphor in language and by encouraging them to extrapolate the conceptual metaphors underlying the English idioms in any given text. The study concludes that cognitive linguistics not only provides a framework within which idioms can be described but also facilitates the comprehension and retention of English idioms in the learning process.
Open Access
The teaching of english idioms in Kenyan secondary schools: Difficulties and effective strategies
(Australian International Academic Centre, 2016-01-07) Gathigia, Moses Gatambuki; Njoroge, Martin Chege
The acquisition of idiomatic expressions is one of the primary challenges to learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) in multilingual contexts such as Kenya; yet, the learners are expected to use these expressions in their writing. The study on which this paper is based sought to assess the teaching of English idiomatic expressions in Kenyan secondary schools with a view to establishing the challenges teachers face in teaching the expressions and, thereafter, proposing effective strategies that can be applied for effective teaching of English idioms to ESL speakers. Ten teachers of English from both rural and urban secondary schools in Kenya were interviewed to find out the actual practices in their classrooms, the difficulties they face, and the effective strategies they employ for successful teaching of English idioms. The data collected were qualitatively analyzed. First, the study notes that it is possible to infer semantic relations between the literal sense of individual parts of an idiom and its meaning when interpreting compositional idioms. Second, there is incongruity between form and meaning when dealing with non compositional idioms since their semantic interpretation cannot be retrieved by means of their constituent parts. The study concludes that an understanding of the etymology of idioms can improve the comprehension and retention of idioms. The study recommends that idioms should be taught effectively in schools because the acquisition of idioms by learners will be an important indicator of their mastery of the English language.
Open Access
Analysis of the Spoken English Used by Teachers in Kenyan Primary School Classrooms: Phonological and Grammatical Variations
(Science and Education Publishing, 2017) Njoroge, Martin C.
The research reported in this paper identifies and describes phonological and grammatical variations in the English spoken by teachers at Kenyan primary school level, correlates the variations observed with the teachers’ amount of education completed in the English language and discusses pedagogical implications of the emergent patterns. First, the results indicate that the teacher’s spoken English varies from the British standard variety - the model of correctness at all the education tiers in Kenya - and second, that the amount of education a speaker has completed in the English language significantly influences language variability. The findings imply that if more primary school teachers were to receive further exposure to English grammar and phonology through the continuing education programs available in Kenyan universities, their spoken English would then vary less from the standard English and international mutual intelligibility would be improved.
Open Access
Assessment of Critical Thinking Skills among Secondary School Learners in Kenya: A Comparative Study of Public Secondary Schools in Nyeri and Nairobi Counties
(Educational Research International, 2017-08) Githui, P.; Njoka, J. N.; Mwenje, M.
This paper evaluates critical thinking skills among learners in public secondary schools in Kenya. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The research was guided by the Cognitive Development Theory, postulated by Jean Piaget as its theoretical framework. The target population comprised of form three students from the selected schools in the two counties. Schools were stratified into boys, girls and co-educational. A sample of schools from the two counties was selected using Kothari sampling formula which gave 30 (10%) schools from both counties. The sampled schools were as follows; 2 boys’ schools from each county, 3 and 2 girls’, 4 and 17 co-educational schools from Nyeri and Nairobi Counties respectively. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire administered to the sampled students. The study used a sampling formula by Kathuri and Pals to determine the sample size which yielded 376 respondents. The results of the study on a scale of 1 to 5, showed that learners from Nairobi County had relatively better critical thinking skills with a mean of 3.31 while Nyeri County scored 2.85. It had been hypothesized that there was no significant difference in critical thinking abilities between learners in Nyeri and Nairobi Counties, to establish thus, t-test was calculated which gave a p-value of .000 against the α-value of .05, the null hypothesis was thus rejected. It was concluded that the difference in critical thinking among students in Nairobi and Nyeri Counties was statistically significant. The study further sought to find out if there were statistically significant differences between students’ critical thinking skills from single gender and co-educational schools. One way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was computed. From the results, it was evident that there were statistically significant differences in the critical thinking skills of students from in the different school categories. The computed P- value = 0.010 was more than the alpha value α < 0.05. Therefore the null hypothesis was rejected and concluded that the critical thinking abilities among students in the three categories of schools were dissimilar. It was therefore concluded that there is need to strengthen critical thinking skills among students in according to county and school category in order to inculcate good citizenship, problem solving, high levels of academic performance, conflict resolution mechanisms among all secondary school students in Kenya
Open Access
Navigating communication difficulties faced by children with autism: Evidence from Kenya.
(Handbook of Communication Disabilities and Language Development in Sub-Saharan Africa., 2017-11-14) Njoroge, Martin C.; Nyakundi, Augustus
On the one hand, the available literature on inclusive education report that, globally, children with autism experience diverse communication difficulties in educational contexts. On the other hand, the same literature expounds on a variety of communication interventions to such challenges. It argues that if such strategies are employed early, these autistic children, with time, will be able to communicate effectively and meaningfully and be able to lead fulfilled lives. Based on a qualitative research done in Kiambu and Nairobi Counties, Kenya (Africa), the chapter outlines the communication challenges faced by children with autism learning in inclusive classrooms. Further, the chapter discusses the interventions that teachers of these children employ to navigate these difficulties, thus aiding the development of their communicative ability. Using interviews and observation schedules, data were collected from 72 children and 6 teachers in 3 inclusive schools for children with autism. In the analysis of the data, description of the results and interpretation of emerging patterns, the study was guided by the Imitation Theory of language acquisition. The findings show that children with autism do face communication challenges but quick interventions by their teachers support the slow but impactful development of language and communicative ability of these children.
Open Access
The treatment of indigenous languages in Kenya’s pre- and post-independent education commissions and in the constitution of 2010.
(Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 2017-11-14) Njoroge, Martin C.; Gathigia, Moses G.
An indigenous or community language is the language that nurtures the child in the early years of his or her life. The UNESCO land mark publication in 1953 underscores the importance of educating children in their community languages: an education that is packaged in a language which the child does not understand is simply difficult for the child. Kenya has had a number of education commissions that significantly address the place of indigenous languages in a child’s education. Further, Kenya Constitution on its part tackles language issues too. This paper, therefore, examines how the Constitution and the various colonial and post-colonial educational commissions that have been undertaken in Kenya treat indigenous languages. Should these indigenous languages be used as a medium of instruction? What are their benefits to a child’s life? To answer these questions, the historical method of study which utilizes mainly secondary and primary sources of data is adopted. The main sources of primary data which form the basis of the discussion and analysis in the paper are Kenya’s constitution (2010) and the educational commissions and reports in the two epochs: colonial and post-colonial periods. The main sources of secondary data scrutinized include: written documents such as books, journals and newspapers. The paper notes that the various educational commissions contain numerous recommendations that have informed Kenya’s education sector over the years on the way indigenous languages should be utilized for both individual and national development. This notwithstanding, the paper concludes that indigenous languages in Kenya have been given a short shrift to the advantage of English language hegemony. The paper proposes a sound implementation of the commissions’ recommendations in order to revitalize indigenous languages so that a Kenyan learner can reap benefits that accrue from the use of indigenous languages in education.
Open Access
The Efficacy of Using Mother Language in the Teaching of Mathematics and Science in Primary Schools: Evidence from Grade One Classrooms in Kenya
(Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 2017-12-01) Njoroge, Martin C.
Despite the evidence from multilingual education research that states the pedagogical benefits accrued when a child is taught in the mother language, obstacles to the acceptance of its use and implementation in education in Africa are enormous. Although Kenya’s language in education policy states that mother language is to be used as a medium of instruction in the early grade years, most teachers use English in introducing children to formal learning. Is it that the teachers do not understand the benefits accrued when a child is introduced to learning in a language that he or she understands? It is against this backdrop that this study set forth to test the efficacy of using Gĩkũyũ (a mother language to many speakers in Kenya) and English (the official language in Kenya) in the teaching of Mathematics and Science in the early grade years to capture the influence the language used had on performance in the two subjects. To achieve the objective of this study, two standard one classes in Kiambu County were purposively sampled. Learners in the experimental class were taught Mathematics and Science using Gĩkũyũ while those in the control class were taught the two subjects using English. A pre-test and a post-test were administered before and after the teaching. Afterwards, the scores recorded in both tests were analyzed quantitatively using the Levene's Test for Equality of Variances and the emerging patterns discussed. The general finding is that teaching Mathematics and Science using Gĩkũyũ is an effective strategy that improves the performance of the two subjects in Kenyan primary schools. The study, therefore, recommends that Gĩkũyũ (and other mother languages) be adopted as a legitimate language of mathematical and scientific communication in areas where the language is spoken in order to facilitate multilingual learners’ participation and success in Mathematics and Science.
Open Access
Evaluation of Creative Thinking Skills amongst Students in Kenya: A Case Study of Public Secondary Schools in Nyeri and Nairobi Counties
(African Journal of Education, Science and Technology,, 2018-06) Githui, Perminus; Njoka, Johannes N.; Mwenje, Margaret
Creative thinking skills are vital competencies in the life of every individual. Therefore, people with creative thinking skills are able to innovate and come up with novel solutions to problems that confront them in life. In this way, they become innovators and problem solvers. Creative thinking is competences that enable learners to apply their imagination in generating ideas, hypotheses, and experiment with alternatives to generate new products and processes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the creative thinking skills among students in boys’, girls’ and co-education public secondary schools (PSC) in Nyeri and Nairobi Counties. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design guided by the social cognitive theory as its theoretical framework. The target population consisted of 69,220 learners in 300 PSC in Nairobi and Nyeri Counties. The schools i n t h e t w o c o u n t i e s were stratified into boys, girls and mixed-sex schools. Therefore, 4 boys’, 5 girls’ and 21 co-education secondary schools were selected to form a sample of ten percent of the schools from each stratum. Data was collected using a questionnaire administered to the sampled students. A total of 391 respondents were sampled in both counties. Analyzed data indicated that the students in Nairobi County had moderately higher creative thinking skills than their fellow students from Nyeri. The computed mean score for students’ creative thinking skills per county were; Nairobi ( 3.06) and Nyeri with ( 3.03). Independent Sample t-test of creative thinking skills of learners in both gave a pvalue 0.584 which was above 0.05 significance level, this indicated that there was no significant difference in creative thinking among students in Nairobi and Nyeri Counties. Additionally, the study sought to find out the creative thinking skills among learners in single sex and co-education public secondary schools in the two counties. Data analysis revealed that girls schools posted the highest level of creative thinking abilities ( = 3.08), followed by boys schools ( =3.07) while mixed-sex secondary schools had a mean score of 3.01. The computed ANOVA for boys, girls and mixed- sex secondary schools, yielded a p values of 0.478 which was above 0.05 significance level, indicating that there was no significant difference in creative thinking skills among students in single sex and coeducation secondary schools at 95% limit. Therefore the null hypothesis was accepted and concluded that the creative thinking abilities among students in the three categories of schools were relatively the same. The study concluded that there is need to strengthen creative thinking skills among learners in the three school categories in both counties in Kenya.
Open Access
Phonemic Awareness Assessment in First Grade in Public Primary Schools in Mathira East District of Nyeri County, Kenya
(2018-07-17) Njoroge, Martin C; Gathigia, Moses G.
This study set forth to assess phonemic awareness among Grade One learners of Public Primary Schools in Mathira East District of Nyeri County, Kenya. This study was based on the Sociocultural Theory of human learning. The study population comprised of 40 public primary schools in Mathira East District of Nyeri County, Kenya with a population of 1382 pupils in Grade One. The study sampled 4 public primary schools in line with Gay’s (1996) postulation that a sample size of 10% would be representative. The Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation was individually administered by the researchers to test whether the Grade One learners could distinguish the basic phonemes within the spoken word. Each test was marked and scores for each learner recorded. The learners were then categorised into phonemically aware, demonstrating emerging phonemic awareness and lacking phonemic awareness. The study also found that learners experienced pronunciation problems with the voiceless palato-alveolar fricative sound /ʃ/, the voiced dental fricative /ð/, the voiced palato-alveolar affricate /dʒ/, the high, long, back and rounded vowel /u:/ and the diphthongs /aɪ/ and /eɪ/. Two linguists with a bias in language education were also interviewed by the researcher in order to recommend the best strategies of enhancing phonemic awareness. The study recommends that phonemic awareness strategies that take into cognizance the alphabetic principle and orthographic familiarity should be employed in the teaching of phonemes. This study concludes that scaffolding explicit phonemic awareness strategies is necessary to ensure that students achieve success in reading and writing.
Open Access
Parental Involvement in the Implementation of Competency Based Curriculum in Kenya: Perceived Challenges and Opportunities
(American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research, 2020) Mwarari, Catherine N.; Githui, Perminus; Mwenje, Margaret
Parental active involvement in the education of their children is widely assumed to be critical for successful educational outcomes. Based on Epstein‟s overlapping spheres of influence theory, this paper explores the perceived challenges and opportunities of this collaboration from the perspectives of Kenyan parents with children in the early years of schooling. The cross sectional survey design was used involving 335 parents from two selected counties in Kenya – one rural and the other urban. The participants responded to a questionnaire that sought to establish the barriers parents encountered as they partnered with schools as well as the strategies, they envisaged would enhance effective parental engagement for healthy academic, emotional and social development of their children. Results indicated that parents acknowledged the importance of homeschool collaboration. However, lack of time, an absence of induction on the competency-based curriculum, inadequate skills and knowledge to assist children, lack of resources were found to be the major challenges parents faced as they partnered with schools. Implications and bespoke strategies for enhancing parental involvement in the CBC are presented.
Open Access
Assessment of Parental Involvement in Home-Based Learning Activities in Public Primary Schools: A Case of Children in early Years of Learning in Nyeri and Nairobi Counties, Kenya
(International Journal of Innovative Research and Knowledge, 2020-01) Mwenje, M.; Githui, P.; Mwarari, C.
The importance of parental involvement in home-based educational activities of their children cannot be gain said. This is because when parents are involved in educational activities of their children, an instructional extension is formed between the school and the home setting and this also facilitates modeling of behaviours that position children to appreciate the purpose of education as they attempt to imitate the behaviours depicted by the parent. Additionally, parental involvement helps in enhancing the child’s confidence, motivation, mental health, self-esteem, communication skills and interest in education as a worthy undertaking. However, despite these perceived benefits there are concerns that parents are not strongly involved in home learning activities of their children. This study assessed the extent of parental involvement in home-based learning activities in early years of learning in Nyeri and Nairobi Counties, Kenya. The target population consisted of parents in Nyeri and Nairobi Counties who had children enrolled in the early years of learning (pre-primary school to grade 3), currently under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). The sample size was determined using the Krejie and Morgan (1971) sampling formula which yielded 384 respondents who were equally distributed in the 8 sampled counties. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire and the responses obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the aide of the computer software SPSS version 20. The study established that parental involvement in home-based learning activities of their children was weak and there were no statistically significant differences in the involvement of male and female parents. The study further revealed that the higher the level of the parents’ education level the more involved they were in education activities of their children. The study recommended that stakeholders in education should join hands and sensitize parents on the need for greater involvement in home based educational activities for their children.
Open Access
Effectiveness of Strategies Used in Secondary Schools to Curb Drug And Substance Abuse Among High School Students in Nzaui Sub-County, Makueni County, Kenya.
(Spring Journals, 2020-06) Muthoka, Paul; Mwenje, Margaret
Drug and substance abuse (DSA) among secondary school students is a major public health problem that has been linked to adverse psychosocial challenges that may affect their academic performance. This calls for the implementation of interventions that can help to mitigate drug and substance abuse among secondary school students. This study sought to establish various strategies used in secondary schools in Nzaui Sub County to mitigate the problem of drug and substance abuse among students. The target population for this study was 12 secondary schools in Nzaui Sub County. Simple random sampling technique was used to sample the secondary schools. The target population for this study were form one to form four students, Deputy Principals, School Counselors and Class Teachers. The study had a sample size of 270 respondents. The study used interview schedules, questionnaires to collect primary data. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS software program and presented using tables and figures. The study found out that guidance and counselling was used in all the secondary schools to address the drug and substance abuse. Other strategies included; parental involvement, punishment, suspension and involvement of the police. It however established that except guidance and counselling the other strategies were not quite effective. The study recommended the use of guidance and counselling to address the risk of peer pressure as the necessary first step in combating drug abuse. It also recommended the importance of conducting other parallel studies to determine the effectiveness of the current drug programs in secondary schools.