Influence of Insecurity on pupils' participation in primary school education in Lamu West sub county, Lamu county Kenya

Abstract

Militants from Somalia have created insecurity in Lamu West which has caused serious damage to learning. They attacked and killed men who were bread winners leaving women and children economically disadvantaged which in turn affected pupils participation in education. Several families were displaced and schools closed for several weeks.The focus of this research was to determine influence of insecurity on pupils’ participation in primary education in Lamu West Sub-Couty. The research was guided by the following objectives: To determine the influence of acts of violence on pupils’ participation, to establish the influence of loss of parents on pupils’ participation, to determine the influence of physical displacement of parents or guardians on pupils’ participation and to establish the influence of attack of schools by arsonists on pupils’ participation. The study adopted the Bush and Saltarelli (1998) two faces of education theory of education. This was a descriptive survey research that targeted the 8 primary that were affected by insecurity in Lamu West, 78 head teachers, 162 teachers and 2250 pupils. Purposive sampling was used to pick the 8 principals, 16 teachers and 225 pupils were selected using simple random sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires. The data was analyzed by calculating percentages, frequencies and presented using frequency tables. The study established that acts of violence decreases enrolment; loss of parents negatively affected attendance; physical displacement of parents decreased promotion and attack of schools by arsonists decreased retention rates. From the research several recommendations were made; The role of government in providing security to its citizens should improve. Government must guarantee security to people in Lamu West and ensure access to education is not negatively affected by insecurity. The national and county governments should come to the rescue of pupils who are orphaned as a result of insecurity. They should provide bursaries to enable them continue with their education. Temporary schools should be constructed in IDP camps to enable the displaced children to continue with their education while at the camps. Prioritizing education for displaced children should therefore be part of emergency interventions. Displaced pupils should not be forced to repeat a class when joining a new school. This allows them to continue from where they left. Pupils should undergo psychological counseling. Suggestions for further studies included; study on influence of insecurity on boys’/girls’ participation in primary school education, study on influence of insecurity on pupils’ performance, replica of the study should be carried out in other areas.