COUNTY GOVERNMENT SUPPORT AND QUALITY OF SERVICE DELIVERY IN PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN MURANG’A COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

National Early Childhood Development Policy Framework in Kenya has been in place since the year 2006 accompanied by a service guideline to promote its implementation. The goal of the policy framework was to enhance access, equity, and quality services for all children from conception through 8 years. Furthermore, a new pre-primary policy was introduced in 2017. However, even with the policies in place there are quality service delivery issues in pre-Primary Schools in Murang’a County. It is documented that pre-primary schools in the County have poor infrastructure coupled with poor delivery of content at this level. The purpose of the present study was to assess the influence of county government support on Quality Service Delivery. Mixed methodology research approach and concurrent triangulation design guided the study. The target population was 1,596 and a sample size of 194 was used in this study. Data was collected using questionnaire for pre-primary teachers’, observation schedule for the pre-primary schools environment, interview guides for Early Childhood Development officers, parents representatives and head teachers’/ECD managers. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically and presented in discussion form while quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and presented using tables and figures. Inferential analysis established that county government support at p<0.001 determined the quality of services delivered in pre-primary schools. Descriptive analysis revealed that more than half of the pre-primary schools sampled had benefited from county government in diverse ways toward enhancing quality service delivery. However, thematic analysis brought out the other issues surrounding the support by county government like inadequate funding and delays in release of funds to schools. In addition, private schools reported that they rarely benefit from county government support. Thus, concluding that goals of the ECD policy may not be realized with the current performance of county government in ECD policy implementation. Subsequently, the study recommends that the County Government should ensure adequate funding for regular monitoring of both public and private pre-primary schools to promote actualization of policy guidelines for quality services and enhanced positive child development outcomes.