The Main Challenges Faced in the Implementation of Government Policy Interventions towards Access to Pre-primary and Primary Education by Street Children in North Rift, Kenya

Aims: Despite of the strong policy measures to have street children in school, many school-going-age are still not attending school. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper was to evaluate challenges faced in the implementation of Government policy interventions towards access to pre-primary and primary education by street children in North Rift, Kenya.

Study Design: The study adopted a mixed method research design.

Place and Duration of the Study: A survey was conducted in three towns of the North Rift Counties of Kenya (Kapsabet, Eldoret, and Kitale) which are the headquarters of the respective counties. Data collection done in the period between 1st December and 31st December 2022

Methodology: Purposive and simple random sampling was used to select 322 respondents (218 males and 23 females with a modal age of 10 -15 years; 18 female and 27 female teachers were aged between 30 – above 40 years). Data was collected using observation guides, in-depth interviews, and questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics as well as theme analysis were used to analyze the data, respectively. The data was coded and analyzed using themes.

Results: Main reasons street children had not enrolled in school were a lack of money for school materials (56.2%) and an unattractive school environment (30%). Other reasons included having to work to support their families (1.3%), distance to school (0.9%), being born and raised on the streets, being over-aged, and early parenting responsibilities.

Conclusion: The study concluded that government policy interventions alone are insufficient for improving street children's access to education. Effective implementation requires collaborative efforts from all stakeholders, addressing barriers like poverty and parenting responsibilities, and restructuring education to include informal systems.