Competencies of Public Primary School Head Teachers in the Management of School Nutrition and Meals Programme at the ECDE Centres in Bungoma South Sub-County

Claartje Nekoye Wakhungu and Onex David Opati
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Claartje Nekoye Wakhungu: Kibabii University, Faculty of Science, P.O. Box 1699-50200, Bungoma, Kenya
Onex David Opati: Kibabii University, Faculty of Science, P.O. Box 1699-50200, Bungoma, Kenya

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 2020, vol. 4, issue 8, 151-155

Abstract: Provision of essential nutrition, shelter, and health care for children is enshrined in the Kenyan constitution. Notwithstanding the efforts by the government to improve the livelihoods of its citizens, under-nutrition remains prevalent among children under the age of 5years which has made the children prone to early childhood diseases that impede academic achievement and sometimes lead to premature death. As the pivots around which all school activities revolve, head teachers are responsible for the management of school nutrition and meals programme of children at school. The main purpose of the study was to analyse the core competencies of public primary school head teachers regarding the management of school nutrition and meals programme at the ECDE Centres. The respondents in the study included one head teacher and one ECDE teacher from a randomly selected sample size of 73 schools. Key informants were selected purposively. The data collection strategy involved the use of structured questionnaires and interview schedules. The results indicated that 32.9% of the ECDE teachers claimed that head teachers supervised the school nutrition and meals programme at the ECDE centres, while 67.1% alleged that head teachers rarely managed the programme. Notably, 9.6% of the head teachers agreed that they had basic knowledge of the existing government policies concerning school nutrition and meals programme, while 90.4% of them did not have basic knowledge on the same. Furthermore, the study revealed that lack of effective evaluation and monitoring mechanism and inadequate funding was the primary challenge to the implementation and sustenance of the programme. The study recommends adequate support from the government through the provision of funds sufficient to support the school nutrition and meals programme. The government should empower the school head teachers through training programmes regarding existing policy documents that will enable them to manage the health and nutrition in schools effectively.

Date: 2020
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