Relationship between selected community capitals and level of parental participation in primary education in Migori County, Kenya

At the World Declaration on Education for All (EFA) made in Jomtiem, Thailand, in 1990, it was decided that there would be more involvement of parents in the education programmes, under the principle of building partnerships and mobilizing resources. One of the commitments of the Government of Kenya to this declaration is to provide policy and legal frameworks of involving the parental participation in the education of their children. However, there has public concern by the members of Migori County that lack of the desired level of parental participation is one of the factors contributing to relatively low standards of education in the county. The concerns have also pointed out a possible relationship between the community capitals and parental participation in education. Little research has been conducted on this relationship in Migori County. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate the relationship between the community capitals and the level of parental participation in primary education in Migori County, in the south-western part of Kenya. The scope of the study was limited to four selected community capitals, which were human capital, social capital, cultural capital and financial capital. The study was a survey in which the target population comprised all the parents who have children in the primary schools, from which the parents who have children in Standard Seven formed the accessible population. A study sample of 436 parents and 16 headtachers was obtained through stratified multi-stage, purposive and simple random sampling procedures. Parents’ questionnaires, headteachers’ questionnaires and document analysis guides were used to collect data. The content validity of the instruments was ascertained by experts in education and community development and construct validity was confirmed through Exploratory Factor Analysis. The study was piloted in Homa Bay County, which neighbours Migori County. The main source of data, the parent’s questionnaire had a reliability of .82 based on the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The study found out that there was a statistically significant positive correlation between all the four community capitals and the level of parental participation in primary education. The study concluded that an improvement in the four community capitals, which were human, social, cultural and financial, in Migori County could result into a higher level of parental participation in the education of their children. The study therefore recommended the up-scaling and optimum utilization of the community capitals to improve the standard of education in the County.