School Co-curricular Activities in Promotion of Peace Education in Public Day Secondary Schools in West Pokot County, Kenya

Abstract

Peace education is about empowering and equipping students with knowledge, skills and attitudes in relation to positive social change and to help them find new solutions to challenges. West Pokot County in Kenya is a highly volatile region, characterized by regular conflict between its inhabitants and communities in neighbouring Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Turkana counties and northern Uganda region. The purpose of this study was to investigate how school co-curricular activities affect provision of peace education in public secondary schools in West Pokot County, Kenya. The study was guided by the following objective: to identify school co-curricular activities that accelerate attainment of peace education in public secondary schools in West Pokot county. Literature review indicates that when education is equitably available, of good quality, relevant and conflict sensitive, it can help promote peace and provide safe environments. The study adopted a pragmatist research paradigm and a descriptive survey research design. A sample size of 30% of principals and teachers constituted 24 and 198 respectively from a total population of 81 principals and 661 teachers in the County. Based on Yamane formula for sample size calculation, 385 students were sampled from a total of 10,035 students in West Pokot County. The schools were selected using stratified random sampling technique while purposive sampling was used to select the principals who participated in the study. Simple random sampling was used to select students and teachers. Data was collected using questionnaires for teachers’ respondents, interviews for principals and focus group discussions, for student respondents. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi square test while qualitative data was analyzed thematically based on the emerging themes. The study established that; school co-curricular activities promoted peace It is recommended that co-curricular activities with the theme of ....