Determinants Influencing Provision of Financial Resources for Infrastructure in Early Years Education in Nyeri County, Kenya

Abstract

The Constitution of Kenya (2010) mandates the county governments to deliver quality pre-primary education through enhancing its management, infrastructure, human and financial resources. However, concerns abound on whether there is effective provision of financial resources to support early years education in Kenya and especially in Nyeri County. This study sought to assess the determinants influencing provision of financial resources for infrastructure in pre-primary education in Nyeri County in Kenya. The study was guided by the mixed methods research design. The target population for the study was 400 head teachers and 800 teachers in pre-primary schools in Nyeri county. Using the Borg and Gall formula of 10-30% criteria of selection of a sample, the lower limit was used which yielded a sample of 40 head teachers and 80 teachers. Data was collected using questionnaires from both the head teachers and pre-primary education teachers. The Cronbach‟s alpha was computed to ascertain for the reliability of instruments which yielded a coefficient correlation of 0.0818 which was higher than the 0.7 threshold of acceptance recommended by Kerlinger6. Data was analyzed using the descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0. The findings of the study revealed that provision of financial resources greatly impacted on the quality of early years education offered in pre-schools in Nyeri county. From the findings of the study, it was recommended that there was need for mainstreaming the early years education in the Free Primary Education to benefit in the funding. The county government should increase budgetary allocation, establish clear financing frameworks, enhance resource mobilization strategies to source funds from other stakeholders.