Parents' satisfaction with quality of services offered in early childhood development programmes in Mang'u Division, kiambu county, Kenya

Abstract

Early childhood education plays a vital role in forming the foundation for a child's future. Studies done in Kenya show that most early childhood development programs in Kenya suffer from poor quality services. However many parents continue to enroll their children in these centers. Globally, policies have ensured that children access quality services in Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs. However, drawbacks have been realized in the conceptualization of what constitute quality of services offered in ECD programs (centers). Several studies have been done to evaluate the quality of services provided to children as effective learning and catering for the well being of the child. The issue of parents' satisfaction with the quality of services provided to their children therefore is of great concern. The purpose of this study was to establish the level of parents' satisfaction with the quality of services offered in Early Childhood Development programs. The study also investigated how the type of program, location of programs, parents' income and parents' education level influence parents' satisfaction with the quality of services offered in Early Childhood development programs provided to their children. The study was guided by the Zone of Tolerance Theory by Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman (1993). The study adopted a survey research design. The population of the study was all the parents with children in ECD programs in Mang'u Division. The sample size was parents in 14 ECD centers in the Division. Data was collected using questionnaires. Data was analyzed per question using descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages and means. The results from data analysis revealed that, the type of ECD program and location of ECD programs influenced parents' satisfaction with the quality of services in ECD centers. It was recommended that early childhood stakeholders should ensure both private and public ECD programs are adequately financed, ensure adequate physical facilities and remunerate caregivers appropriately. In addition parents should be involved in the education of their children in ECD centres. County governments should monitor the quality services to ensure that the centres provide quality C"areand education.