Parental participation and attitude towards school feeding program and its impact on academic achievement at ECDE

Abstract

The School Feeding Program (SFP) is an essential aspect of child growth and holistic development. To establish a functional SFP, parents should be involved in all procedures to ensure sustainability of the program which will cater for children from diverse socio-economic backgrounds hence academic achievements among Early Childhood and Development(ECDE) children. In this study the researcher sought to determine parental socio-economic status, educational level, marital status, background and attitude towards establishment of SFP, parental marital status and provision of SFP, type of school and provision of SFP, establish relationship between the type of school and success of SFP which determine the relationship learners. The target population between SFP and academic achievement consisted of ECD teachers, Headteachers, of ECD children, parents and Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASO) in Roret Division, Bureti District.The schools were first placed in two strata of public and private category then schools were randomly selected comprising of 48 ECD teachers, 24 headteachers, 720 children,480 parents and 2 QAS.O. Data was collected through questionnaires administered to ECD teachers, interview schedule for QASO, headteachers and parents, achievement tests were set and administered to children in ECD centres. Observation and checklist was used by the researcher to verify what had been said by respondents and validate what was reported through questionnaire. The data collected was presented analysed and reported in terms of percentages, frequencies, means, chi-square and F-test. The result obtained showed that parental socio-economic status, educational level, marital status,type of school have an impact on establishment of a functional school feeding program in Roret Division, Bureti District. Schools providing SFP showed high academic achievement among ECD children. The findings were used to develop a model for DICECE officers, teachers, Parents, QASO and policy makers to establish functional and sustainable SFP in all ECD centres in Roret Division and all areas with the same characteristics as Roret Division, Bureti District, Rift Valley, Kenya.