Abstract
There is a global emphasis on the importance of providing quality early childhood education and care to all children. The issue of provision of quality early childhood education for arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya has received less attention as it contributes to the status of literacy of the whole population. This paper looks at the provision of quality education in public early childhood education centres also known as pre-primary schools in West Pokot County, Kenya. The study methodology incorporated qualitative and quantitative methods of research. This study took pragmatism as its philosophical paradigm. The study used a descriptive survey research design. The target population for the research involved 365 headteachers and 682 teachers. The sample size for the study was arrived at by taking 10-30% of the target population to act as the sample size that is 10% for headteachers and 30% for ECDE teachers. The research instruments used were; questionnaires and interview guides. The data collected was analysed using qualitative and quantitative methods. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation. Statistical Package for Social Science (Version 20.0) helped in coding, entry and analysis. Qualitative data was analysed using content analysis method. The study found out that provision of quality education was at average level (M=2.87, SD=1.13) in public pre-primary schools in West Pokot County. This means that half of the pupils in public pre-primary schools in the county are not receiving quality education and hence affecting their development in schools. Therefore, the paper recommends that adequate measures need to be put in place by the County Government of West Pokot County to ensure that public ECDE centres provide quality education through building more ECDE classrooms, employment of teachers on permanent and pensionable terms, provision of adequate instructional materials and meals programmes for remote schools to increase learners retention
Highlights
This paper looks at the provision of quality education in public early childhood education centres known as pre-primary schools in West Pokot County, Kenya
Childhood Development Education (ECDE) is the education given to young children before the age of joining primary level education (6 years) (Obiweluozor, 2015)
Statistical research has shown that children who have experienced early childhood are more likely to excel, remain in primary school and achieve good results than other children who have not gone through the same (UNESCO, 2013)
Summary
Childhood Development Education (ECDE) is the education given to young children (aged between 4 to 6 years) before the age of joining primary level education (6 years) (Obiweluozor, 2015). At the ECDE stage, children learn to share and co-operate with others (Chepkonga, 2017). They are taught how to understand and manage their emotions. They are taught reading and writing tasks, are engaged in play activities for their psychomotor development among other activities stated in the pre-primary curriculum (Andiema, 2020). This paper looks at the provision of quality education to ECDE children to ensure that they grow physically, emotionally and cognitively
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