Effect of school feeding programme on the pre-school children's performance in number work activities in Kenya : A case study of Mufu Zone, Embu county

Abstract

This research study sought to determine the impact of the School Feeding Programme (SFP) on performance of pre-school children in number work activities. It sought to discover the nature of SFP in Mufu Zone, and to establish its effects on performance of pre-scholars in the district. The target population of this study was 56 public schools in Mufu Zone from which a random sample of 28 public schools which had pre-schools was selected. Ex-postfactor research design was used to carry out the study. The study used both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected using questionnaires while secondary data consisted of report forms of the pre-school learners. Questionnaires included structured and unstructured questions and were administered through drop-andpick method to the head teachers and teachers. Report forms of pre-scholars for the last two terms of the year 2015 were collected to help analyse the performance the pre-schools sampled in the study. Data collected was organized according to the sample studied and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used to analyse it, using descriptive statistics and correlations. Using the Pearson Correlation Coefficient, a strong positive correlation was established at 0.01 level of significance, between performance, type of food, frequency, and amount of food offered. The study found that school meals are a good way to channel vital nourishment to the children which in turn helps promote the children’s performance. This was realized as good performance was reflected in schools with the feeding programme.