The role of non governmental organisations' in provision of public primary ecucation in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

The rising costs of education and poverty have all made it extremely difficult for many parents and communities to invest in their children's education. Subsequently primary education is experiencing a decline in quality, access and equity. From the foregoing, it is evident that a re-emphasised participation of non-governmental organisations is inevitable in order to salvage the quality, access and equity of primary education. The purpose of this thesis was to mainly investigate and identify the contribution and potential of Non-Governmental Organisations in the provision of primary education in public primary schools in Nairobi.

The data was collected from NGOs supporting primary education in Nairobi, primary schools, and the parents and pupils benefiting from these NGOs' support. the sample was drawn from 17 NGOs supporting primary schools in Nairobi, 11 primary schools, 17 parents and 74 pupils. All these gave a total of 119 subjects. The descriptive survey design was used in the study. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used for data collection. The Statistical package of Social Science Programme (SPSS) was used in the analysis of data. The data presentation took the form of numerical percentages, frequencies, tables and graphs.

From the analysis, World Vision-Kenya, Action Aid-Kenya, Plan International -Kenya, Christian Children Fund and Compassion International-Kenya, emerged head and shoulders above the rest. They are actively involved in supporting primary education in Nairobi. On the other hand, the performance of the NGOs was rated as satisfactory and beneficial. However, in regard to emerging trends and adequacy of their support to primary education, it was found that there was not a great increase of support and the current support was not adequate.

The number of pupils supported by NGOs was very small compared to the total number of registered pupils in the research sample primary schools. The number of girls supported by NGOs was either more or equal to that of boys in the various sample primary schools. Textbooks and writing materials were found to be the least provided form of support. Most NGOs were found to concentrate more on putting up of physical structures. Head teachers were found to be very important in linking up NGOs to pupils and parents in the community in need of support. The parents were found to be over dependent on the supporting NGOs. There has also not been any conscious move to prepare the parents either psychologically or financially for any eventual withdrawal of the current support. The following are the recommendations of the study:

- The NGOs should expand their support to more needy pupils for greater impact. - The current challenge of increased poverty and the prevalence of HIV-AIDS leading to increased number of needy pupils and orphans justify the need for NGOs to increase the current support. -Provision of instructional materials especially textbooks and exercise books should be considered seriously by NGOs. - The NGOs supporting primary education should involve head teachers more and work in partnership with them instead of using them only as link persons to the needy.