PHD-Department of Early Childhood Studies

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Browsing PHD-Department of Early Childhood Studies by Author "Gichuru, F.X."

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    A comparative study of policy implementation in early childhood teacher education institutions in Kenya
    (2011-07-19) Makatiani, Maurice Ingati; Gichuru, F.X.; Otiende, James E.; Waiyaki, Edward M.
    The worldwide rise in people's aspirations has culminated in a demand for access to education for young children. In Kenya, as a condition for entry to primary school, this has led to expansion of ECE centres and to shortage of trained teachers in these centres. In contribution to solution of this problem, the government formulated policies aimed at guiding ECTE institutions on assumption that these institutions would implement them. Using both quantitative methods (questionnaire, verification checklists and analysis of documents and statistical data) and qualitative techniques (FGDs, interviews, and observation), the researcher found that there were inconsistencies, similarities and differences in functional relationships between stated government policies and actual practice during their implementation in ECTE institutions. The persistence of conservative elements in people working in these institutions, combined with variations in the physical environments in which these institutions operate, account for their existence. Empirically, the study noted that the pace of increase in student enrolment in ECTE institutions was not on a fast enough scale to march the growing numbers of children being enrolled in ECE centres. There were variations in the structural duration of the ECTE certificate programme durations ranging from 10 years to 15 years. While 91.2% of the student population had the required mean grade D+ and above in the KCSE examination, 8.8% had mean grade D and below. While 79.3% of the topics in the syllabus were covered in class 20.7% were not. It finally suggests strategies for informed decisions and planned implementation of government policies designed to guide ECTE institutions in preparing teachers for ECE centres