| dc.description.abstract | Orphans form an integral part of the society. Many of them face a myriad of challenges as a result of being orphans in many parts of the world, in Africa and in Kenya in particular. Many individuals and organizations, including Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), assist orphans in various aspects of their lives. The purpose of this study was to establish the contribution of NGOs in promoting access to education by orphaned learners in regular primary schools in Bondo sub-county, Kenya. The objectives of the study were: to determine the type of assistance given by NGOs to promote access to education by learners who are orphans in regular primary schools in Kenya; to establish the efficiency of management of assistance provided to orphans by NGOs to enhance their access to education in regular primary schools in Kenya, to find out the difficulties guardians face while working with NGOs to ensure access to education by learners who are orphans in regular primary schools in Kenya and to establish the challenges faced by learners who are orphans, that hinder their access to education in regular primary schools in Kenya; The study employed concurrent triangulation research design within the mixed method research approach. The study was guided by the theoretical underpinnings of the updated Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs. Schools were clustered according to the divisions and selected using simple random sampling method in each cluster. The target population was 129 schools, 129 head teachers, 543 grade 4 to 7 Class teachers, 135 guardians, 784 orphans and 125 NGO staff. The sample size included 52 class teachers, 13 head teachers, 78 orphans, 13 NGO workers and 13 guardians. The head teachers, class teachers, NGO staff and guardians were purposively chosen. Six orphans, (3 boys and 3 girls) were selected per school using stratified sampling method for the focus group discussion. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the class teachers while interview schedules were used to collect data from the head teachers, guardians and NGO staff. Focus group discussion interview guides were used to get data from the orphans. Piloting was done in 5 schools outside the sample to ascertain reliability. Validity of the instruments was determined by the expert judgment of the supervisors who scrutinized items on the instruments. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics including percentages and frequency counts. Qualitative data was processed and analyzed thematically. The study found out that orphans face a lot of challenges that hinder their access to education. It also found that the assistance provided by NGOs is seldom enough to help mitigate the challenges that orphans face. The study revealed that not all assistance provided by NGOs reaches the intended orphans. The study also found out that most guardians face a lot of difficulties in ensuring that orphans under their care access education. The findings of the study were expected to enable the NGOs to better understand their contribution on the orphans’ access to education. | en |
