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Kenyatta University Institutional Repository is a digital archive that collects, preserves and disseminates scholarly outputs of the Institution
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Exploring Influence of School Type, Gender and Parental Engagement on Pre-Schoolers’ Acquisition of Early Language Competencies in Busia County, Kenya
(Kenyatta University, 2025-10) Onyango,Consolata Nabwire
Early language competencies such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing enable learners to communicate and use both printed and electronic learning resources effectively. These competencies serve as the foundation for gradual development of other core competencies. This study was therefore conducted to explore children’s acquisition of early language competencies, owing to their significance in pre-primary school. Specifically, the study aimed at exploring the influence of type of school, gender and parental engagement on children’s acquisition of early language competencies. The parental involvement theoretical model by Epstein (2009), was used to inform the study, while ex post facto research design was utilised to guide the research. Purposive, stratified, and simple random techniques were used to select 7 public schools and 4 private ones out of the 67 public and 40 private schools. A similar number of teachers were purposively sampled from the above schools, while 172 PP2 children/ parents from public schools and 82 children/parents from private randomly selected, formed the study’s sample. Early language skills checklist, questionnaire and interview schedules were used for data collection. A pilot study was conducted in two primary schools. Content validity was used to determine research tools validity, whereas reliability of the instruments was established using test-retest method. Thematic analysis was employed to probe qualitative data, while descriptive analysis was used to summarise quantitative data where frequencies, percentages, and means were generated. Additionally, inferential statistics involving two-sample t test (independent t test) and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient were used to test null hypotheses. Results revealed that majority of learners had not acquired the expected early language competencies. Learners in private schools had acquired higher language competencies compared to their counterparts in public pre-primary schools. In addition, female learners had acquired more early language competencies than their male counterparts. The results further revealed that majority of parents did not adequately participate in activities to develop their children’s early language competencies. This research recommends that parents should get more involved in activities to develop their children's early language competencies. Management of pre-primary school should introduce programmes to encourage parents to closely monitor and participate in activities that may enhance pre-school children’s acquisition of early language competencies.
Correlates and Modelling of Households Graduation from the Hunger Safety Net Programme in Marsabit County, Kenya
(Kenyatta University, 2025-12) Rufo, Boniface Munene
Poverty and food insecurity remain high in Marsabit County, Kenya, despite the implementation of social protection interventions such as the Hunger Safety Net Programme. Moreover, there is limited empirical evidence on household graduation, which is a critical component of effective social protection. Therefore, this study focused on assessing the correlates and modelling of households graduation from the Hunger Safety Net Programme in Marsabit County, Kenya. Key independent variables examined included household-level characteristics, Hunger Safety Net Programme support mechanisms, community-level factors, and adaptive coping mechanisms. The dependent variable was households graduation from the Hunger Safety Net Programme. The study was guided by social protection theory, social capital theory, and the theory of change. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Data were collected from 334 primary respondents within their households, five key informants, three focus group discussions, and five respondents who shared the most significant stories. SPSS version 25 and STATA version 16 were used to compute quantitative statistics, while qualitative data were analysed in narratives. The findings revealed that household-level characteristics had a statistically significant correlation with households graduation. Simple linear regression analysis indicated that cash transfer amount, adequacy of cash transfer, and duration of support had a statistically significant association with households graduation. Community associations, community participation, community trust, and community leadership were also found to have a statistically significant correlation with households graduation. The study also found that households relied on indigenous agro-pastoral practices, livelihood diversification, financial credits, food coping mechanisms, and social insurance systems within their communities as adaptive coping mechanisms. However, there was no statistically significant correlation between adaptive coping mechanisms and households graduation. Overall, the majority of the households that had graduated from the Hunger Safety Net Programme were still food insecure and were likely to fall back and require social safety net support. The study recommends that the Hunger Safety Net Programme provide the graduated households with capacity-building interventions such as seed capital, skills training, financial literacy, community networking, and linkages. Community participation in selecting households to graduate should also be encouraged to cultivate a sense of ownership. Finally, the Hunger Safety Net Programme and other social safety nets of a similar nature should consider adopting the household graduation model developed in this study for sustainable graduation.
Integrated Marketing Communications Mix and Adoption of a Sports Culture by Academic Staff of Chartered Public Universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya
(Kenyatta University, 2025-11) Mulili, Benjamin Mwanzia
The practice of using ideas from the experience of others in the making and implementation of
policy locally is not new. It can be an effective way for governments to learn what to pursue and
what to avoid. Governments discovered that instead them to engage in the slow process of
learning by doing, they can simply learn by observing the policy experience of others. Therefore,
it should be possible for one government to pick policy ideas, in whole or parts, with the view to
using it to help solve an existing policy challenge in their own system. Scholars have ascribed
different names to explain this process. These include diffusion, transfer, lesson drawing, policy
mobilities and translation among various cognates. While slightly different, what these related
fields of studies have in common is that they attempt to trace the movement of policies from one
setting to another, helping to address questions such as: why and how policies move, who is
involved in this movement, what actually is moved, and who is involved in this process.
However, despite the extensive nature of the literature, gaps still exist in relation to the capacity
of the policy receptors to incorporate borrowed lessons. Similarly, agency, motive, cognition,
capacity and time are all in need of further development. This thesis is designed to help fill these
gaps. It draws on Punctuated Equilibrium Theory to complement the Policy Transfer heuristic to
provide a theoretical prism to investigate the phenomenon. Inductive-interpretive method was
used to extend Critical Realism research to study the interaction of agency and structure. Thus,
two main data collection approaches were used: primary document review and semi-structured
interviews. Based on interviews with 24 Task Force members, sourced through purposive and
snow-ball techniques (complemented primarily by official publications of Kenya‘s Ministry of
Health, and the World Health Organization), this study inductively conducted Braun and
Clarke‘s Six-Step thematic analysis. The findings showed that lessons have been offered to
Kenya Task Force by the WHO, the former utilized the lessons in coming up with Kenya‘s
COVID-19 measures; and that the WHO advice was combined with ideas borrowed from other
sources. The study also found that the Task Force members actively (and willingly) participated
in the transfer process; thus they had a positive relation with the WHO. Furthermore, despite
some delays in declaring the pandemic and in generating Kenya‘s initial responses, the WHO
was generally prompt in guiding Kenya to enact national guidelines. This study discovered that,
after the initial transfer, the transfer actors have improved their response time for the integration
of lessons in the second wave. However, it slowed in the third. Other findings were: there were
xxi
varied choices among Task Force members on specific choices, the Task Force members had the
needed agency to determine the transfer and no conflict was found between the sending actors
and the receiving actors of the IPC. Finally, the study also found that the capacity of Kenya at the
outset of the pandemic was mixed: it had a pre-existing IPC but suffered the dearth of key
infrastructure and supplies. Despite this, Kenya provided support to its contiguous neighbors
(Seychelles, Somalia and South Sudan) who were in much dire needs. The study thus concluded
that the transfer of the IPC measures from the WHO was instrumental to Kenya‘s COVID-19
policies. Therefore, this thesis recommends reducing the number of Task Forces in future
pandemics, sustaining the voluntary nature of international health regulation, making timely
decisions, encouraging accountability and transparency within Task Force membership and
robust investment in Kenya‘s health sector
Policy Transfer between International Organizations and National Governments: A Case Study of World Health Organization’s Transfer of Covid-19 Infection Prevention And Control Policy to the Government of Kenya
(Kenyatta University, 2025-10) Babagana Lawan Abba
The practice of using ideas from the experience of others in the making and implementation of
policy locally is not new. It can be an effective way for governments to learn what to pursue and
what to avoid. Governments discovered that instead them to engage in the slow process of
learning by doing, they can simply learn by observing the policy experience of others. Therefore,
it should be possible for one government to pick policy ideas, in whole or parts, with the view to
using it to help solve an existing policy challenge in their own system. Scholars have ascribed
different names to explain this process. These include diffusion, transfer, lesson drawing, policy
mobilities and translation among various cognates. While slightly different, what these related
fields of studies have in common is that they attempt to trace the movement of policies from one
setting to another, helping to address questions such as: why and how policies move, who is
involved in this movement, what actually is moved, and who is involved in this process.
However, despite the extensive nature of the literature, gaps still exist in relation to the capacity
of the policy receptors to incorporate borrowed lessons. Similarly, agency, motive, cognition,
capacity and time are all in need of further development. This thesis is designed to help fill these
gaps. It draws on Punctuated Equilibrium Theory to complement the Policy Transfer heuristic to
provide a theoretical prism to investigate the phenomenon. Inductive-interpretive method was
used to extend Critical Realism research to study the interaction of agency and structure. Thus,
two main data collection approaches were used: primary document review and semi-structured
interviews. Based on interviews with 24 Task Force members, sourced through purposive and
snow-ball techniques (complemented primarily by official publications of Kenya‘s Ministry of
Health, and the World Health Organization), this study inductively conducted Braun and
Clarke‘s Six-Step thematic analysis. The findings showed that lessons have been offered to
Kenya Task Force by the WHO, the former utilized the lessons in coming up with Kenya‘s
COVID-19 measures; and that the WHO advice was combined with ideas borrowed from other
sources. The study also found that the Task Force members actively (and willingly) participated
in the transfer process; thus they had a positive relation with the WHO. Furthermore, despite
some delays in declaring the pandemic and in generating Kenya‘s initial responses, the WHO
was generally prompt in guiding Kenya to enact national guidelines. This study discovered that,
after the initial transfer, the transfer actors have improved their response time for the integration
of lessons in the second wave. However, it slowed in the third. Other findings were: there were
xxi
varied choices among Task Force members on specific choices, the Task Force members had the
needed agency to determine the transfer and no conflict was found between the sending actors
and the receiving actors of the IPC. Finally, the study also found that the capacity of Kenya at the
outset of the pandemic was mixed: it had a pre-existing IPC but suffered the dearth of key
infrastructure and supplies. Despite this, Kenya provided support to its contiguous neighbors
(Seychelles, Somalia and South Sudan) who were in much dire needs. The study thus concluded
that the transfer of the IPC measures from the WHO was instrumental to Kenya‘s COVID-19
policies. Therefore, this thesis recommends reducing the number of Task Forces in future
pandemics, sustaining the voluntary nature of international health regulation, making timely
decisions, encouraging accountability and transparency within Task Force membership and
robust investment in Kenya‘s health sector
Management of Institutional Repositories and Service Delivery in Selected Agricultural Research Institutes in North Western Nigeria
(Kenyatta University, 2025-08) Auwal Magaji Abubakar
Institutional repositories (IRs) play a vital role in the preservation, dissemination,
and visibility of academic knowledge. Beyond serving as digital archives, IRs
showcase an institution’s research outputs, thereby enhancing its scholarly
reputation and accessibility. In Northwestern Nigeria—a region facing persistent
challenges in agricultural productivity due to inadequate access to relevant
information—the Nigerian government has invested in research institutes such as the
National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), the Institute for
Agricultural Research (IAR), and the National Agricultural Extension and Research
Liaison Services (NAERLS). These institutions have established IRs to store and
share critical agricultural knowledge. To this end, this study investigates the
management and utilization of IRs within these agricultural research institutes,
intending to enhance their capacity to deliver high-quality services to diverse users.
Specifically, it investigated the criteria used for resource selection and uploading,
evaluated indexing practices, examined user engagement, and explored strategies to
improve the visibility and accessibility of IRs. Guided by the Technology
Acceptance Model (TAM), the research targeted 291 key stakeholders—including
chief librarians, digital librarians, extension agents, veterinary doctors, livestock
officers, and agricultural officers—using a census sampling technique. Data
collection involved both standardized questionnaires and in-depth interviews.
Descriptive statistics were applied to quantitative data, while qualitative interviews
were thematically analyzed. Key findings showed a perceived disconnect between
repository content and institutional objectives, pointing to issues related to content
diversity, visibility, and academic impact. Participants reported dissatisfaction with
indexing quality and limited integration of repositories with global search engines.
Usability challenges and a lack of user awareness further hindered effective
utilization. Notably, the study introduces new insights by linking these challenges to
gaps in user-centered content policies and insufficient metadata optimization—areas
often overlooked in previous studies. Based on these findings, the study
recommends a strategic realignment of content selection practices, the adoption of
quality control frameworks, improvements in indexing standards, and user-focused
outreach initiatives. These contributions expand the existing literature by
emphasizing the importance of aligning repository practices not only with
institutional missions but also with end-user needs. They underscore the need for
continuous usability enhancements and sustained visibility efforts to maximize the
relevance, impact, and adoption of institutional repositories in the agricultural
research landscape of Nigeria