Challenges faced by teachers in managing street children in public primary schools in Imenti North district, Kenya.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Provision of basic education and literacy to all is among the most important contribution that can be made to the development of the child's world. The street children phenomenon is a major human development that is experienced all over the world. The aim of this research was to investigate challenges faced by teachers in managing rehabilitated street children in public primary schools in Imenti North District. The target population for this study was 10 primary school head teachers and 268 teachers from the 10 public primary schools in Imenti North District and 15 Rehabilitation Centre staffs. All the 10 head teachers from the sampled 10 primary schools were purposively selected while 15 Rehabilitation Centre staffs and 132 teachers were randomly selected using simple random technique. The study had a total sample size of 157 respondents. Data collection instruments were teacher's questionnaires and head teachers' and Rehabilitation Centre Staffs' interviews. Before the. actual data was collected, the researcher conducted a. pilot study in the neighboring Igembe North District with 4 head teachers, 16 teachers and 10 rehabilitation staff. Validity of the questionnaire was obtained by presenting it to at least two professional people that is • the researcher's supervisors while reliability of the instruments was obtained by using the test retest The study established validity confident 0.85. The researcher obtained a letter from Kenya Methodist University and National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) and District Education Officer (DEO). Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science version 17.0. Some of the challenges teaches face include; indiscipline of the rehabilitated street children, truancy, lack of professional counselors,. low concentration and hallucinations, high drop rate, poor performance of the rehabilitated street children, and lack of parental love . The study established that 100% of the head teachers had a positive attitude toward rehabilitated street children while, 85.0 % of teachers had a positive attitude toward rehabilitated street children.• 86.7 % of • Rehabilitation Centre staff indicated that they were comfortable working with the children and it is not a nerve-wrecking job. Several suggestion were made by the respondent on how to improve learning and completion rate of rehabilitated street children that include: Rehabilitated street children to be trained on how to accept themselves and join rest in daily activities to create a sense of being accepted in the society .. This study would help •IT). development workers and other professionals like teachers as well as the government policy makers, to grasp fully implications of the rehabilitated street children in. public primary school and behavior of the rehabilitee and promote more research to be done in the area of educating rehabilitated street children. This study recommends appropriate levels of investment in rehabilitated street children from all sectors of • society.. The study recommends further research regarding . specific accommodations and modifications necessary to accommodate the rehabilitated street children in a regular educational• system in relation to academic achievement. •