Factors Influencing Pupils’ Access To Primary School Education In Flood Prone Areas Of Ijara District, Garissa County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the factors influencing pupils’ access to primary school education in flood prone areas of Ijara district, Kenya. Three research objectives were formulated to guide the study. They were:- to establish the learner related factors that influenced pupils’ access to primary school education; to examine the infrastructural related factors that influenced pupils’ access to primary school education and to examine the infrastructural related factors that influenced pupils’ access to primary school education. The study was conducted using descriptive survey. The target population of the study comprised of 9 headteachers, 90 teachers and 3,665 pupils. The sample for the study was 9 headteachers, 73 teachers and 347 pupils. Data was collected using questionnaires, focus group discussions and observation schedules. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse quantitative data while qualitative data was analyzed thematically according to the objectives. The findings revealed that: younger children in classes 1-4 were most challenged in accessing school during floods; and illness related to floods was a factor that influenced pupils’ access to primary school education in flood prone areas of Ijara district. There were higher rates of absenteeism among girls compared to boys during floods. The infrastructural related factors that influenced pupils’ access to primary school education were: damage to and flooding of classrooms; flooding and collapsing of school toilets; flooding of playgrounds; and damage of access roads. It also revealed that: settlement patterns; the flat topography of the area; and the long distances to school were the contextual related factors that influenced pupils’ access to primary school education. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that health, age and gender were the learner related factors that influenced pupils’ access to primary school education. It was also concluded that: damage to and flooding of classrooms; damage and flooding of toilets; flooding of playgrounds; and damage of access roads were the infrastructural related factors that influenced pupils’ access to primary school education. The study also concluded that: settlement patterns; the flat topography of the area; and the long distances to school were the contextual related factors that influenced pupils’ access to primary school education. The recommendations made were: school management committees should engage qualified professionals to assess the structural safety of damaged school buildings; building codes and standards for schools should be applied in designing construction and maintenance of classrooms and toilets to ensure their resilience in the face of known disasters; schools should develop and implement disaster management plans; the community leaders should mobilise their members to participate in construction and maintenance of roads; the Ministry of Special Programmes should sensitize the communities in the area of disaster risk reduction through activities such as digging of trenches around the school compounds to minimize flooding. Suggestions for further studies are:-to investigate the factors influencing access to secondary school education; to investigate flood disaster risk reduction and to establish the influence of floods on academic performance in primary schools in flood prone areas of Ijara district.