SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMMES AND ENROLMENT RATES OF PASTORALIST PUPILS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS MOYALE SUB-COUNTY, MARSABIT COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Enrolment of pastoralist pupils in public primary schools has been and is still low. To mitigate this challenge the Kenyan government has initiated a raft of measures, one of which is the school feeding programme. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between school feeding programmes and enrolment rates of pastoralist pupils in public primary schools in Moyale Sub-county, Marsabit County. The study employed correlation research design. Stratified random sampling was used to create two zones. Simple random sampling was used to select 10 schools from the two zones. From each selected school, a head teacher, 10 teachers, 22 pupils and three parents’ representatives were sampled. A total of 10 head teachers, 100 teachers and 220 pupils participated in the study. Data was collected by use of a questionnaire. Validity of the instrument was established through expert judgment by the University supervisors. Reliability was established through test re-test technique and reliability index of 0.812, was established. Both descriptive statistics (means, standard deviation and percentage) and inferential statistics (linear regression) were used in data analysis. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21 was used to do analysis. The findings of the study indicated that there was an increase in enrolment rate of pastoralist pupils as a result of steady and consisted provision of meals. The study concluded that providing school meals increases enrolment rate of pupils. The study recommended thatgovernment and other stake holders should continue providing feeding programmes to pastoralist schools in order to attract more pupils.