RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAMILY BREAKDOWN AND PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN’S LEARNING OUTCOME IN KIAMBU COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

The rising number of family breakdown worldwide is a great concern for children and families. Divorce and separation destroy the relationship between parents and children. Due to family conflicts and breakdown the child may be pre-occupied with worries at home, withdrawn and not able to fully get involved in school activities hence affecting his/her learning outcome. The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between family breakdown and a child’s learning outcome in Limuru Zone, Kiambu County. The Humanistic theory by Abraham Maslow guided the study. The study employed the descriptive survey design using a sample size of 10 (63%) public primary schools, 20 (49%) preschool teachers, 134 (10%) parents who divorced or separated with their spouses in the last 6 months to 5 years during the study period and 134 (10%) children of these parents. Questionnaires for parents were used to find out the prevalence of broken families in Limuru Zone and its effects on pre-primary children’s learning outcome while interviews were administered to teachers. A pilot study was conducted in two 3-streamed primary schools using six teachers, 10 parents and 10 children. Validity of the instruments was determined using content validity while reliability was tested through split half technique at a coefficient of 0.7. Analysis of quantitative data was done using means, tallies, frequencies and percentages while inferential data was tested using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient at 0.05 level of significance. The study concluded that family breakdown has significant effects on preprimary children learning outcome and recommended that MoEST should employ trained counselors in all public pre-primary schools to offer help to children as well as parents coming from broken families.

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