Environmental Factors and The Learning of the Mentally Challenged Pupils in Primary Schools, Meru-South District, Kenya

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to establish the extent to which environmental factors affect the learning of the mentally Challenged pupils in Chuka Division Meru-South District, Kenya. It was guided by the following objectives to; determine the extent of environmental factors in Meru-South District primary schools, the level of learning of pupils with mental Challenge in Meru-South district primary schools and if there is any significant relationship between environmental factors and the level of learning of pupils with mental Challenge in Meru-South district primary schools. Methodology; The study was co-relational in nature based on quantitative approach involving, The target population of the study comprised of 200 teachers in 10 primary schools through simple random selection, with a sample size of 133 respondents from ten schools in Chuka Division. Primary data was collected using self administered questionnaires and analyzed by statistics such as mean, percentage distribution and Pearson linear correlation coefficient. Findings, The first objective was to determine the level of environmental factors on mental retardation. Findings on this were done by studying indicators of nutrition and health which was moderate with 2.57, safety was found to be low at 2.48, and lastly sensory, emotional and social stimulation that were rated moderate at 2.58 in the school. Thus; the environmental factors on mental retardation was found to have been moderate with a grand average mean of 2.54. The second objective was to determine the level of learning of learners with mental retardation. Findings on this were done by study in the numbers of learners who performed between 2011 and 2012. The study found out that the level of learning of pupils with mental retardation was poor with an average mean of 0.34. The third Objective was to determine if there is a significant relationship between environmental factors and level of learning of the learners with mental retardation. Using the Linear regression results, the results indicated that environmental factors and learning of mentally retarded learners are not significantly correlated (r=-0.0664). The sig. value indicate that there is a positive and significant correlation (Sig. = 0.000 < 0.05) leading to a conclusion that Environmental factors significantly improve learning of mentally retarded learners at 5% level of significance. Basing on these results the stated hypothesis of “ there is no significant relationship” is rejected and thus the findings showed a negative relationship between environmental factors and learning of mentally retarded learners. These results lead to a conclusion that improvement in environmental factors is likely to improve the learning of mentally retarded learners in Primary schools in Meru-South District. Conclusion, The researcher used indicators of nutrition and health which was moderate with 2.57, safety was found to be low at 2.48, and lastly sensory, emotional and social stimulation that were rated moderate at 2.58 in the school, the researcher found out that the level of learning of pupils with mental Challenge was poor with an average mean of 0.34.The researcher by use of the Linear regression results, found out that the dependent variable environmental factors and learning are not significantly correlated (r=-0.0664). The sig. value indicate that there is a positive and significant correlation (Sig. = 0.000 < 0.05) leading to a conclusion that Environmental factors significantly improve learning of mentally challenged learners at 5% level of significance. Basing on these results the stated hypothesis of “there is no significant relationship” is rejected and thus the findings showed a negative relationship between environmental factors and learning of mentally challenged learners. These results lead to a conclusion that improvement in environmental factors is likely to improve the learning of mentally challenged learners in Primary schools in Meru-South District. Recommendation from the study were for learners to be able to perform they should be fed with balanced diet. Their safety and provision of enough playing materials should be adequate. Different teaching approaches used by the teachers. Modification of the curriculum should be done and sensitization of the community to have positive attitude towards them, The government should modify the curriculum to suite the learners needs. The parents to be taught on how to nurture their families before, during and after pregnancy by maintaining balanced diet and emotional well being of their families. Sensitizing other learners to work with and support their peers who are mentally challenged in their classes as they are members of the same community. The attitude of teachers and entire school community should be positive in order to accommodate these learners in school and raise self-esteem. In addition to subaverage intellectual functioning, which is determined by a test, it is necessary to also determine that there are limitations in adaptive skills that occur within the context of community environments typical of the individuals age peers and is indexed to the persons individualized needs for supports. Adaptive skill areas are those daily living skills needed to live, work and play in the community. They include communication, self-care, home living, social skills, leisure, health and safety, self-direction, functional academics (reading, writing, basic maths), community use and work.