Child labour and school performance: a study of Kyeni division, Embu district

Abstract

The study had two major objectives; to find out if children's work activities at home had any effect on their performance in school and to establish if the child's socio-economic background and personal characteristics contributed to the children's involvement in child labour. The study hypothesized that children's work activities at home affect their performance in school, that the child's socio economic background contributes to the child's engagement in child labour and that the child's personal attributes determine his/her involvement in child labour. It was found that the child's socio-economic background was a major contributing factor to the child's engagement in child labour. The higher the socio-economic status of the child, the fewer hours he/she was engaged in child labour. Children whose parents had secondary education and above were found to work for fewer hours than those whose parents had primary or no formal education at all. Similarly, children whose parents were employed registered fewer hours of work compared to children whose parents had no other source of income apart from tilling the land. Likewise, children whose parents were single worked for more hours than those children who had parents. Therefore the study's first hypothesis that the child's socio-economic background contributes to the child's engagement in child labour was accepted. Another important study finding was that the child's personal attributes were less significant in determining their involvement in child labour. Boys and girls were found to perform household duties regardless of their gender. Boys cooked, cleaned utensils and fetched water; activities that were initially considered to be girls work. Boys were also found to be satisfied in performing such activities. Similarly, girls were also involved in boy-activities such as milking and taking care of livestock. The study concluded that sex typing not very important II i the most of the modem day rural families. In contrast, birth order significantly determined the child's engagement in child labour. first born children were found to work for longer hours than those who were born latter in the family. It was established that parents entrusted a lot of responsibilities to first born children compared to their younger children. Therefore the study's second hypothesis was modified to state that the child's personal attributes mayor may not influence the child's engagement in child labour. A major finding of the study was that child labour impacted negatively on school performance. Children who worked for many hours at home performed poorly in examinations. They were also left with very few hours to study and rarely completed their school homework. The teachings verified the study's third hypothesis that children's work activities at home, their performance in school. Performance in primary day schools was generally found to be below average. Majority of the children interviewed, 75% (113) had not attained half the total examination marks and only 16% (37) had attained half the total examination marks. The study found out that child labour was not the only factor contributing to poor performance in primary day schools. Other factors included; lack of text books, parental ignorance on the value of formal education, peer influence, drug abuse among the pupils, lack of teacher commitment, early marriages, and female circumcision, lack of food especially during the dry spells and an over¬stretched curriculum. The study recommended sensitization of parents on the value of education vis-a-vis children's work activities at home. It also recommended that the government put in place mechanisms that will help farmers to be paid well for their produce therefore enabling them to afford wage labour and thus involving their children less in work activities. Finally the study recommend P.N s further research on issues surrounding children's work activities and its impact on vital institutions such as education.