Effect of Devolution on Early Childhood Education Infrastructure Development in Wajir County, Kenya
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Date
2022-05
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
For many years, COmIlll'IIlilics in Kenya's marginalized arcas, such as Wajir County, have been
characterized by poor literacy levels, low retention and transition rates, and limited access to
carly childhood, primary, secondary, and higher education. With the advent of devolution, previously neglected communities' county governments now have the opportunity to fix the
situation and, as a result, reduce inequities in educational access. This study sought to determine
the effect of devolution on early childhood education infrastructure development in ECDE
centres in Wajir nnrt.h Sub County, Wajir county, Kenya. This study was guided by the following
objectives: to examine influence of devolution on water provision infrastructure in ECDE, to
establish the influence of devolution on electricity infrastructure in ECDE centres and to
establish the effect of classroom infrastructure in ECDE centres in Wajir north Sub County,
Wajir county, Kenya. The study was guided by agency theory. The research used the descriptive
research design. The target population includedCounty Education Director (CED), ward
administrators, sub-county administrators, MCAs, Directors of ECDE centres and head teachers
in Wajir North Sub-County. The study used questionnaires for collecting data. Quantitative and
qualitative analysis techniques were used. The purpose of qualitative data analysis was to explain
the information acquired from the questionnaire's open-ended questions. In quantitative analysis,
numeric metrics were used to determine the scores of the responses supplied. With the use of the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences, this entailed generating descriptive statistics following
data collection, estimating population parameters from the statistics, and drawing inferences
based on the statistical findings. (SPSS). The results presents that the number of schools
connected with electricity power have increased and the ECDE centres have adopted use of
generators to supply alternative power supply. The study found that the relevant administrators
have embarked on establishing new ECDE centres in Wajir North sub-county. The study
presented that the ECDE centre do not provide safe drinking water and insufficient piping of
water was evident. The study established that there was no equitable distribution of water pumps
in wajir sub county. It was evident that classes are few to accommodate the increasing number
of kids. The findings show that local money and resources have been ineffectively mobilized,
and instructors in pre-primary education have not been adequately rewarded for their efforts. The
results presents that there are policies and guidelines which guide the management of ECDE
centres. Policies and standards have supported the growth of pre-primary education, and policies
that have been enacted increase community engagement in the management of early childhood
programs. The study recommended that there is need for the government to revisit the models
that guide the implementation of devolution. For effective implementation of devolution, the
state of infrastructure in the county should be put into consideration. The stakeholders should
come up with measures to increase supply of water and electricity in the county. The resource
allocation should be enough to cater for ECDE needs for water in the county. Devolved funds
through county governments as well as other funds such as the youth, women and constituency
development fund can be used to facilitate such initiatives.
Description
A Research Project Submitted to School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts in Public Policy and Administration of Kenyatta University May, 2022