scholarly journals RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMMES AND THE PUPILS’ SCHOOL ATTENTANCE IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN KITUI COUNTY, KENYA

Author(s):  
EVELYNE MALINDA MWENWA ◽  
DR.JUSTUS MCHOMA GORI

Education can be achieved successfully if hunger is controlled. This can be done if SFPs are introduced and implemented in schools. School Feeding Programme was initiated in Kenya in 1979 with provision of milk packets to the pupils and it was fully implemented in 1980 by the government of Kenya with collaboration with World Food Programme (WFP). The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between SFPs and the pupils’ effectiveness in learning in public primary schools in Kitui County. The study intended to assess attendance as an indicators of effectiveness in learning. The study used Classical Liberal Theory of Equal Opportunity and Maslow’s Theory of Human motivation. The researcher used Survey Research Design. The target population was 374 primary schools under feeding Programme in Kitui County. The sample size was 112 schools which are 30% of the target population. These schools were sampled randomly. The researcher also randomly sampled five percent (19) class seven teachers to get a total of 131 respondents. The research instruments used by the researcher were the questionnaires for head teachers and the interviews for class seven teachers’ representatives. To test validity of the research instruments, the researcher did piloting in two schools (10%) of the sample target, 19 class seven teachers. The researcher also discussed the instruments with her supervisors and was advised accordingly. Reliability of the research instruments was calculated using test-retest method. Quantitatively collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson r with the help of SPSS software while qualitatively collected data was analyzed using Focus by Question Analyses Strategy. Analyzed results were presented using tables, graphs and pie-charts. The findings of the study may help the administrators and policy makers in laying their strategies successfully. Results show that there was a significant relationship between school feeding program and the pupils’ school attendance. Findings from the interviews further confirmed that there was unwavering agreement among class seven teachers’ representatives that school feeding program was positively associated with pupils’ school attendance. The study concludes that SFP has significant influence on effectiveness in learning in relation to attendance among primary school pupils, hence the hypothesis that there is no significant relationship between school feeding Programme and the pupils’ attendance was therefore, rejected. The study recommends that the county government should liaise with parents and guardians of primary school pupils so as to expand SFPs to retain pupils at school. These findings will be beneficial to the Ministry of Education and the school administrators while laying their strategies.

Author(s):  
Ogechukwu B. Aribodor ◽  
Chinyere Angela Ekwunife ◽  
Olufemi S. Sammy-Wobo ◽  
Dennis N. Aribodor

Introduction: Control of intestinal helminthiasis among pupils improves their nutritional status. This study identified the risk factors and socio-demographic determinants of intestinal helminthiasis among children in primary schools that implemented Home Grown School Feeding Program (HGSFP) in Anambra State, Nigeria. Methods: Eight hundred and forty-eight consented pupils from Primary (Elementary) classes 1-4 were examined from Community Primary School, Ekwulobia, 270 pupils; Central Primary School, Ekwulobia, 317 pupils; and Nwannebo Primary School, Ekwulobia, 261 pupils. Structured questionnaires were administered to pupils to assess their risks factors for helminthiasis. Fecal samples collected from all pupils were examined using Kato-Katz technique. Data obtained were entered and analyzed using SPSS. Results: Of the 848 pupils, 452 (53.3%) were males and 396 (46.7%) were females. Assessment of risk factors associated with transmission revealed that toilet type, hand washing habit, and knowledge of the cause of helminthiasis were significantly (p<0.05) related to transmission; however parent’s occupation and biting of fingernails habits were not correlated with transmission (p>0.05). There was a very low prevalence of helminthes at 0.7% in six stool samples (1 male and 5 females), and prevalence of helminthes was not significantly associated (p>0.05) with pupil’s sex and age. Ascaris lumbricoides were the only helminthes observed in the study population. Conclusion and Implications for Translation: The low prevalence of intestinal helminthiasis among the study population may be attributable to efforts of HGSFP that was implemented in the study area. There is need for constant monitoring and surveillance of all public schools and sustenance of the implemented water, sanitation and hygiene practices and HGSFP so that total elimination of helminths could be achievable in the state. Key words: Helminthiasis • Home Grown School Feeding • Pupils • Ekwulobia • Anambra State • Nigeria. Copyright © 2018 Aribodor et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Asha Bekidusa ◽  
Dr. JohnBosco Kisimbii

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to establish the influence of school feeding program on the retention of learners in public primary schools.Methodology: This study was conducted through a descriptive survey research design. A descriptive survey is a present oriented methodology used to investigate populations by selecting samples to analyze and discover occurrences. The survey focused on 60 out of the 188 head teachers and teachers who are beneficiaries of school milk program in all the six sub counties in Mombasa i.e. Mvita, Kisauni, Likoni, Nyali, Jomvu and Changamwe.This gives 31.9 % of the total number of participants in this project. To obtain the study sample for descriptive studies 10% of the accessible population is enough. Simple random and purposive sampling procedures were used in this research.Results: School feeding program influences retention of learners in public primary schools with a reliability value of 0.8 which is considered minimal acceptable thus rejecting null hypothesis therefore meaning that school feeding program has a significant effect on retention of learners in pubic primary schools.Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: School feeding programmes are often designed to enhance academic performance and cognitive development. Improved nutritional status of school-age children leads to better attention and cognition, and thus, better educational outcome. School feeding can improve attentiveness in class by reducing short-term hunger many children come to school on an empty stomach, yet they remain surrounded by the distracting and disturbing facets of the crisis. The study recommends that the ministry of education should review the School feeding Programme and extend it upper primary classes. They should prioritize supply of food to ensure continuous provision and adequate supply of food for pupils. 


Scientifica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Solomon Muluken Ayehu ◽  
Addisu Tadesse Sahile

Background. Quality of education plays a crucial role in the social, economic, and political development of a nation. Primary school is a vital stage in developing the personality and consciousness of school children. Objective. The study assessed the Body Mass Index and factors associated with School Absenteeism at selected primary schools in Addis Ababa, 2018. Methods. A comparative cross-sectional study was undertaken on 324 (162 each group) from selected primary schools of Addis Ababa from May 02 to July 30, 2018. All participants and their families provided written informed consent and assent. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select participants, where the list of students was once identified from the selected schools. An independent t-test was undertaken at p value <0.05 as the statistically significant level. And, binary logistics regression was used for the identification of factors statistically associated with school absenteeism, with its respective 95% confidence interval (CI) and p value of <0.05 significant level. Findings. There was a statistically significant difference between feeding and nonfeeding participants on average weight, school absenteeism, and BMI for age, at p < 0.05 . Participants who enrolled in the school feeding program had a higher average weight than nonfeeding participants ( p < 0.05 ). Participants from the feeding group had lower average school absenteeism than their counter participants ( p < 0.05 ). The average BMI for age was significantly higher among feeding participants than nonfeeding participants ( p < 0.05 ). The odds of having school absenteeism were 1.796 times higher among feeding participants than among nonfeeding participants (AOR: 1.796; 95CI:1.061–3.042, p < 0.05 ). The odds of sustaining absenteeism from the school were 2.257 times higher among feeding participants than among nonfeeding participants (AOR: 2.257; 95%CI: 1.291–3.948; p < 0.05 ). Conclusion. A higher number of school absenteeism, average weight, and BMI for age were observed in participants enrolled in the school feeding program than those who did not get enrolled in the feeding program. Large-scale studies were recommended to testify the impacts of school feeding on absenteeism.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeshalem Mulugeta Demilew ◽  
Azezu Asres Nigussie

Abstract Background: Though undernutrition affects academic performance significant numbers of Ethiopian school children have undernutrition. To avert nutritional problems the government in collaboration with the world food program has implemented a school feeding program. However, data on the nutritional status of primary school students were scarce in the country. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the nutritional status of primary school students enrolled in schools with school feeding programs and in schools without school feeding programs and to identify associated factors in Meket Woreda.Methods: A school-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,091 students, from April 1-27/2015. The study participants were selected using a multi-stage stratified sampling method. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data entry and analysis were done using SPSS version 20 software. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were done. Anthropometric data were analyzed using Anthro-plus software.Results: The prevalence of thinness was 37.5% among students in non school feeding program schools compared with 27.8 % among students in School feeding program schools. Though it wasn’t significant after adjusting for the potential confounders, the prevalence of stunting among students who took meals at school was higher (58.5%) compared with students who did not consume meals at school (48.3%). Students who did not take meal at school [AOR=2.6, 95% CI: (1.8, 3.8)], having uneducated mother [AOR=5.3, 95% CI: (2.2, 12.6)], being a male [AOR=1.9, 95% CI: (1.4, 2.5)], and taking meal once daily [AOR=2.7, 95% CI: (1.6, 3.9)] were positively associated with thinness. Conclusion: The prevalence of thinness was higher among students in schools did not implement school feeding programs compared to their counterparts. Thus, school meal program should be scaling up into schools in food insecure areas.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeshalem Mulugeta Demilew ◽  
Azezu Asres Nigussie

Abstract Background Under-nutrition significantly affects the academic performance of students. Despite its remarkable effect, the prevalence of malnutrition was very high in Ethiopia. To reduce malnutrition and its serious consequence Ethiopian government in collaboration with the world food program implemented school feeding program in food insecure areas. However, its effect on the nutritional status of students was not assessed, yet. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the nutritional status of primary school students enrolled in schools with school feeding program and primary school students enrolled in schools without in Meket Woreda. Methods A school-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 1091 students, from April 1-27/2015. The study participants were selected using multi-stage stratified sampling method. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data entry and analysis were done by SPSS version 20 software. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were done. Anthropometric data were calculated using Anthro-plus software. Results the prevalence of stunting was higher among students who took meal at school than students who did not consume meal at school (58.5% Vs 48.3%) whereas the prevalence of thinness was higher among students who did not take meal at school compared with students who took meal at school (37.5% Vs27.8%). Factors associated with stunting were having uneducated mother [AOR=2.1, 95% CI: (1.4, 3.3)], drinking river water [AOR=1.5, 95% CI: (1.1, 2.1)], being a male [AOR=1.6, 95% CI: (1.3, 2.1)] and taking meal once daily [AOR=2.6, 95% CI: (1.2, 5.9)]. Whereas, students who did not take meal at school [AOR=2.6, 95% CI: (1.8, 3.8)], having uneducated mother [AOR=5.3, 95% CI: (2.2, 12.6)], being a male [AOR=1.9, 95% CI: (1.4, 2.5)], and taking meal once daily [AOR=2.7, 95% CI: (1.6, 3.9)] were positively associated with thinness. Conclusion School meal program is important to prevent thinness. Thus, school meal program should be implemented in schools have no the program. Education should be given to improve the source of drinking water, frequency and diversity of food at home by giving emphasis to uneducated and housewife mothers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-219
Author(s):  
Benson Kiprotich Langat ◽  
Benedicta Aiyobei Tabot ◽  
Joseph Rotumoi

Feeding programmes are critical for quality education to be realized in all learning institutions starting from Pre-primary to higher levels globally. When there is no provision of meals to children in school, they lack the energy to concentrate in classroom and co-curricular activities. It also weakens their intellectual ability and may hinder the development of competencies among pre-primary school learners. In this study, it was assumed that the provision of meals to pupils in school influences the acquisition of competencies among the learners. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to establish the influence of School Feeding Programmes on the acquisition of competencies in classroom activities among the learners in pre-primary schools in Belgut Sub-County, Kericho County. The study was guided by Abraham Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs, as it stresses the fundamental requirements of basic needs (food), which increases the satisfaction of an individual (learner). The study used a descriptive survey design with a population of 85 pre-primary schools. Headteachers were eighty-five (85) and pre-primary school teachers were one hundred and seventy (170), giving a total of 255 respondents. A sample size of 189 respondents was derived comprising of 70 headteachers and 119 pre-primary school teachers. The study employed stratified random sampling to draw respondents from the target population. The instruments used to collect data were questionnaires and interview schedules for teachers and headteachers respectively. The analysis of the collected data was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. Inferential statistics were used to show the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables and was presented in form of correlation analysis. The study findings revealed that children who are consistently provided with meals in school concentrated well in class activities. There existed a significant correlation (p<0.05) between competencies in classroom activities and school feeding programmes. The school feeding programmes enabled learners to actively participate and concentrate on school activities and enhanced competency acquisition. Some of the recommendations were that the county and national government need to fully implement the school feeding programmes and that the sustainability of the programme is vital to increased competency acquisition rate among Pre-Primary school learners.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 17-34
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Hamer ◽  
Katarzyna RAYWER ◽  
Elżbieta Monika Zięba

Based on Paul Ekman’s typology of motives of lying, authors wanted to investigate how oftenthey motivate pupils and students to lie. Two studies were conducted: 1) in primary schools anda high school, 2) on different universities. In the second study we also measured the level of needfor approval and agency/communion (the Big Two). Both studies gave similar results, revealing thatpupils and students declared higher frequency of lying motivated by avoiding any inconveniencethan by gaining some kind of profit. Detailed analyses showed that the highest frequency oflying was motivated by two reasons: to protect oneself or someone else from danger and to avoiduncomfortable, awkward situations. Next in frequencies were motives driven by willingness toavoid any nuisance (e.g. punishment, embarrassment or to protect one’s privacy). In both studieslying driven by willingness to gain some kind of profit (e.g. reward, being liked, admired or togain power) was declared as rather rare. Analyses showed that the latter result was not free frominfluence of need for approval. Both age and sex played a certain role in these declarations. In thefirst study, boys significantly more often than girls declared to lie to protect oneself or someoneelse from danger, to secure one’s privacy and to gain power. There were no such differences in thesecond study (among students). As to age, primary school pupils declared lying to be liked (girls)and admired (boys) more often than teenagers in high school, while the latter declared lying togain power and to protect oneself or someone else from danger more often than primary schoolpupils. In turn, students declared, significantly more often than younger subjects, to lie for allreasons. The Big Two turned out to be of little significance – only lower level of communion was, asexpected, connected to higher frequency of both categories of lies (to gain / to avoid), especially incertain reasons of lying (e.g. to gain power or admiration). The results are discussed in the contextof further studies on bigger and more varied groups, Polish cultural specificity and possible biasinginfluence of need for approval in studies of lying.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suman Chakrabarti ◽  
Samuel P. Scott ◽  
Harold Alderman ◽  
Purnima Menon ◽  
Daniel O. Gilligan

AbstractIndia has the world’s highest number of undernourished children and the largest school feeding program, the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme. As school feeding programs target children outside the highest-return “first 1000-days” window, they have not been included in the global agenda to address stunting. School meals benefit education and nutrition in participants, but no studies have examined whether benefits carry over to their children. Using nationally representative data on mothers and their children spanning 1993 to 2016, we assess whether MDM supports intergenerational improvements in child linear growth. Here we report that height-for-age z-score (HAZ) among children born to mothers with full MDM exposure was greater (+0.40 SD) than that in children born to non-exposed mothers. Associations were stronger in low socioeconomic strata and likely work through women’s education, fertility, and health service utilization. MDM was associated with 13–32% of the HAZ improvement in India from 2006 to 2016.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naruna Pereira Rocha ◽  
Mariana De Santis Filgueiras ◽  
Fernanda Martins de Albuquerque ◽  
Luana Cupertino Milagres ◽  
Ana Paula Pereira Castro ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the implementation of the Brazilian National School Feeding Program as a food and nutritional security policy in public schools. METHODS: This a cross-sectional study, with a quantitative and qualitative approach, carried out with 268 schoolchildren aged eight to nine years from the public school system of Viçosa, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 2015. Interviews were carried out using semi-structured questionnaires with the children, parents, cooks, nutritionists, trainer of the Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company, and president of the School Feeding Council. In order to analyze the implementation of the National School Feeding Program in Viçosa, we evaluated the direct weighing of the food served in the schools using mechanical balances with a capacity of up to 10 kg and the perception of the social players involved in the implementation of the National School Feeding Program. The children were questioned about the acceptance of and adherence to the food offered, in addition to the habit of bringing food from home. Parents reported knowledge about the School Feeding Program and Council. The qualitative analysis consisted of content analysis and quantitative analysis using the chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, and Mann-Whitney test. We adopted the statistical significance of 5% for quantitative analysis. RESULTS: Children reported low adherence to the school feeding program and most of them used to bring food from home. Irregularities were identified in the implementation of the National School Feeding Program, such as: inadequate number of nutritionists, suspension of Council meetings, inadequate infrastructure in the areas of preparation and distribution of meals, lack of training of cooks, lack of nutritional adequacy of the food offered, and lack of actions on food and nutritional education. The Program complied with the recommendations for purchasing food from family farms. CONCLUSIONS: The National School Feeding Program presented many irregularities in Viçosa. It is important to monitor the problems identified for better reformulation and planning of the Program, in order to guarantee the food and nutritional security of the children served.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document