The girl child participation in primary school level of education has become a real concern in all nations of the World particularly in the developing countries of the Sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya included. Girl child education worldwide provides benefits to the family and the society at large thus factors affecting it should be addressed for the sake of human and societal development. The objective of the study was to establish the factors affecting girls’ participation in primary schools in Kenya. Specifically, the study investigated the effect socio-economic, socio-cultural and school -based factors have on a girl-child’s participation in primary school education in Kenya. In some parts of Kenya, there is low girls’ participation in primary school education thus the interest in establishing the factors that may be contributing to this problem. This was considered crucial as Kenya strives to achieve basic Education for All by 2015. The study employed a survey design. 210 girls drawn from primary classes 6, 7 and 8 participated in the study. The simple random technique was used in the selection of the sample. A questionnaire was used to collect data that were analyzed by use of descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages). The findings of the study revealed that socio-economic, socio-cultural and school related factors affect girls’ participation in primary schools in Kenya. In effect, unless these factors are expeditiously addressed, primary school girls will continue to be disadvantaged in the Kenya’s school system. This will frustrate the world’s efforts in attaining basic education for all by 2015. The study therefore recommended that the Ministry of Education in Kenya should create awareness to all education stakeholders on the importance of girl child education in the country. It was also recommended that a large scale study involving sub-Saharan Africa developing nations experiencing low girls' participation in education be carried out to falsify or corroborate the findings. Key words: education, factors, girls’ participation, socio-economic, socio-cultural, school-based.

No abstract

Aims: To assess the effect of COVID -19 on mental health of the learners in primary and secondary schools of Kenya. Study Design: The study adopted a cross-sectional research design where 96.5% of the respondents of the study were between the age of 6- 18 years. Place and Duration of the Study: The study was conducted in Kenya and it involved five counties namely Nairobi, Mombasa, Kajiado, Migori and Elgeyo Marakwet primary, secondary and special schools. The study was conducted between October 2021 and July, 2022. Methodology: In the five selected counties 12 schools were selected in each county where different sub-counties were considered. A 31 item paper questionnaire for learners on mental health was administered to assess levels for anxiety with ten(10) items, depression had eleven(11) items and and post-traumatic stress disorder had ten (10) items. The learners responded to a 3 point Likert scale of; “Not at all”(1) “Sometimes”(2) and “All the Time”(3) The scores were tabulated as follows: Anxiety; Normal 10 – 15, Mild 16 -20, Moderate 21- 25 and Severe 25 and above, Depression; Normal 11 – 18, Mild 19 -26, Moderate 27- 31 Severe 32 and above and finally Scores for PTSD; Normal 9 – 14, Mild 15 -19, Moderate 20- 24, Severe 25 and aboveNormal (1), Mild (2), Moderate (3) and Severe (4) though some items were reverse scored if the statement was negatively phrased. All the learners who scored an average of moderate to severe in this tool were identified as vulnerable and predisposed to risks of mental illness and therefore recommended for mental health interventions. Results: The study established that 25.7% of the learners reported moderate to severe levels of anxiety, 27.9% of the learners reported moderate to severe levels of depression and 44.4% of the learners reported moderate to severe levels of PTSD. Conclusion: The study established that there were heightened level of anxiety was a reality among school learners. There is need to implement efforts that address depressive symptoms before they escalate to unmanageable levels. Learners are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder whose effects will continue to be felt for long period of time unless intervention takes place. Therefore Kenyan schools not only need to prevent but also manage learners exhibiting the mental health symptoms to promote holistic growth with fully functional citizenry.

In Kenya, orphanhood has risen and affected many children among them primary school pupils. A parent’s death may affect children’s psychological well being. There is a close coherence between children’s psychological well-beings and their interpersonal relationships. Children who have poor psychological well-being are likely to be withdrawn, experience low self-esteem and have poor adaptations to human functioning and life experiences. These conditions affect their relations with others hence become deviants. A literature gap exists in Kenya on orphanhood’s effect children’s relations with other pupils thus motivating the authors to come up with such a study. Thus, the objective of the study was to establish the influence of orphanhood on pupils’ interpersonal relationships in public primary schools by comparing the mean scores in pupils’ interpersonal relationships between the orphaned and the non-orphaned pupils. Also, establish whether gender differences exist in interpersonal relationships between the orphaned pupils. Causal-Comparative research design was considered appropriate for the study because of the comparison of groups. A sample of 110 pupils (55 orphaned and 55 non-orphaned) drawn from 10 primary schools was involved in the study. The pupils were drawn from primary classes 6 and 7. The sample was selected by using purposive and stratified random sampling procedures. A questionnaire was used to collect data which was analyzed by use of independent sample t-test. The study established that orphanhood has a significant effect on interpersonal relationships among pupils in primary schools in Kenya. It was also established that significant gender differences exist in the effect that orphanhood exert on pupils; with boys being more affected than the girls. From the findings, it is evident that absence of parents negatively affect the interpersonal skills of children particularly the boy-child. Such children need counseling interventions to counter these effects. It is therefore recommended that school counselors, teachers and school administrators in Kenya should assist orphaned pupils cope with the loss of their parents by offering psychological and social support to them. This is because the poor interpersonal relationships of orphaned pupils may affect various aspects of their lives that include academics and discipline among others. Key words: effect, interpersonal, relationships, orphanhood, primary school pupil.