Effects of armed conflicts and insecurity on School performance, a case of primary schools in Kapcherop Division, Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya
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Date
2014
Authors
Kibet, Reuben Korir
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Armed conflicts and insecurity disrupts lives and livelihoods and impoverishes people and recovery from it can be slow. Education on the other hand increases labour productivity and wage rate of an individual and makes one have an identity both at social, cultural and political dimensions of his life. Education enables an individual to make most of other assets and negotiate new and difficult. environments. People with education are more likely to have socioeconomic resilience during conflicts and insecurity; finding new livelihood options, adjusting to displacement and/or accessing safety and new livelihood options through migration. After periods of insecurity, these people are able to use their assets to rebuild their lives. The question is, "do people with education have a greater resilience during periods of conflict than those with none"? And this requires empirical research, testing and support to verify it. Many years of displacement, conflict and insecurity has seriously compromised education delivery as well as children's capacity to learn in Kapcherop Division of Marakwet West District. While there is now relative peace except some pockets of armed robberies, there are many challenges facing effective provision of quality education, including those relating to recruitment, retaining and motivating staff and dealing with trauma as a result of conflicts and insecurity in and around the area of study. This study aimed at addressing the problems of armed conflicts and insecurity by providing firsthand information from selected respondents on how this vice has impacted negatively on their livelihoods both at their homes and schools around them and it has proposed
armed conflicts and insecurity prevention and mitigating solutions that will help to curb the occurrence of these vices now and in the future as goes the cliché 'prevention is better than cure'. The researcher used descriptive survey design and stratified sampling technique to collect data from the respondents in the division. Data was collected from pupils, teachers and chiefs/sub chiefs by using questionnaire, interview and observation methods of data collection. In conclusion, armed conflicts and insecurity in Kapcherop division has negatively affected education as there have been increased cases of dropouts and especially among the boys, low enrolment, retention and completion rates. Other areas worst affected by this problem include transport sector, health sector and environment among others. There should thus be a concerted effort by all the stakeholders in the division and beyond to look for ways to curb this problem and also put in place mechanisms that are aimed at ensuring that this problem never recurs again now and in the future. The study sought therefore to assist in contributing to the growing literature in this field by demonstrating the lasting effects of armed conflicts and insecurity on education for a large and diverse set of regions ravaged by this problem.
Description
A research project submitted to the department of Educational management, policy and curriculum Studies, school of education for the award of Master of Education Degree of Kenyatta University