Unintended Consequences of Coronavirus on Education Participation in Budalangi Sub-county of Busia, Kenya

• In Event: Access, Gender and the impact of Covid-19 on Education in Africa

Proposal

Natural and artificial disasters disrupt people's lives through displacements, destruction of livelihoods and property, deaths, and injuries. Consequently, they take back years of development, thus posing a significant challenge to Kenya's Vision 2030. Since March 2020, heavy rain showers have intensified in West Kenya, parts of Coast and North Eastern areas causing death, displacement, flooding, and landslides. According to UNICEF (2021), the consequences led to more than 69,000 households (351,000 individuals) being displaced by the floods.

In these flooded areas, almost 75% of the households have reported their houses damaged or destroyed while many communities have been forced to leave their homesteads. Key infrastructure, including water and hygiene infrastructure, roads, bridges, schools and health facilities were destroyed in these areas. However, in Budalangi Sub-County, the flooding compounded by the COVID-19 situation made matters worse. More than 3,000 families were displaced by the floods and forced to seek shelter in schools. Schools had been converted into camps for displaced persons. Also, schools had been closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The food and sanitary situation in camps concerned many partners working in the region who supported the residents and the county in response to the crisis. This was also amid fears of COVID-19 transmission given the difficulty in practicing social distancing and poor access to masks and handwashing in the situation.
In light of this, UNICEF's research noted that the most vulnerable children and those unable to access remote learning are at an increased risk of never returning to the classroom. For instance, the majority of the learners from the Budalangi constituency whose families had been displaced by floodwaters were forced to seek refuge in the internally displaced person camps, which were over congested, a situation that had made it extremely difficult for the students to have ample time to study. Many of them could not access learning through internet as their parents were economically constrained and also had stressful situation while living at the camps.
This study examined the unintended consequences of coronavirus disease on education participation among learners in the Budalangi region in Kenya. The study aimed at establishing the effects of engagement in child labor on learner participation. Most of the learners could not access learning materials through the internet as their parents could not afford to sponsor their children to study due to the financial crisis and the stressful situation they faced while living at the camps. Notably, most of the students living at the camps accompanied their parents in manual activities to earn a living, including; working in rice fields, sand harvesting, and fishing along River Nzoia and Lake Victoria beaches. This study also established the effects of teenage pregnancies and early marriages on learner participation. The study also assessed how the gender of learners influenced education participation. All these engagements discouraged them from studying. Hence, the problem is manifested in low return rates and participation in education. This is due to weak social and economic relationships in the community setup.This conforms with the UNICEF Executive Director’s remarks when he noted that“As we approach the one-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are again reminded of the catastrophic education emergency worldwide lockdowns have created. With every day that goes by, children unable to access in-person schooling fall further and further behind, with the most marginalized paying the heaviest price”.
Therefore, it is anticipated that this study would be significant as the study's findings may help formulate education policies and legal frameworks on education participation in Kenya and Sub-Sahara Africa. The education stakeholders would also understand and appreciate e-learning as a basic model for promoting participation in education curricula. The study is also significant to comparative and international education as it provides data on the relevance of e-learning in education participation.
This study was guided by the Sociocultural theory as advanced by Vygotsky' in 1978. The sociocultural theory looks at the significant contributions that society makes to individual development. In addition, this theory stresses the interaction between developing people and the culture in which they live. The sociocultural theory also suggests that human learning is essentially a social process.
The study adopted a mixed-method approach. The study targeted 37 primary schools and seven secondary schools in the Budalangi region. Budalangi has three education zones, of which two primary schools and one secondary school per zone were purposively sampled. The sample comprised 60 primary school pupils, 30 secondary school students, 24 primary school class teachers,12 secondary school class teachers, six primary school headteachers, and three secondary school headteachers. The findings of the study revealed that socioeconomic activities had a negative on education participation. The results further revealed that floods negatively contributed to education participation. It was also shown that gender has a significant influence on the education participation of learners. Generally, the findings revealed that e-learning was crucial in mitigating negative aspects of education participation.
The study concluded that socioeconomic issues fuel poor participation in education. It was also concluded that the gender of learners poses threats to involvement in education. The study suggested that e-learning be adopted to promote participation in education. The study recommended that communities should abandon moribund cultures to hinder participation. It was also indicated that the government of Kenya constructs more dykes to control flooding.

Authors

• Caleb Imbova Makatiani, University of Nairobi

• Sarah Naliaka Likoko

• Navin Imbova Mackatiani, Teachers Service Commission