QUALITY OF PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT IN PRESCHOOLS IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN NAIROBI CITY COUNTY IN KENYA: IMPLICATIONS ON CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION

The quality of the physical environment in a school for young children enhances their development and education. This is because it makes them feel safe, comfortable, increases their concentration, reduces absenteeism and leads to better child health. The Kenya Basic Education Act of 2013 and Early Childhood Development Service Standard guidelines of 2006 state that there should be appropriate facilities in educational institutions for young children. The policy documents further provide that facilities in early childhood programmes should meet standards such as adequacy, durability, safety and userfriendliness in order to enhance children’s development and education. Despite the policies being in place, the provisions are yet to be fully implemented in preschools in informal settlements. This paper presents results from a study conducted in preschools in informal settlements in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The preschools offer alternative care and education for children who cannot access public preschools, complementing the effort of the county government in providing early childhood education. The study aimed to explore the quality of physical environment in preschools in the informal settlements and pinpoint implications on children’s development and education. It was a qualitative study conducted across 54 preschools. Managers of the preschools were interviewed, and observation of physical facilities in the schools were carried out. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyse data, and the results indicated that the quality of physical environment in most of the preschools was not conducive for children’s development and education due to inadequate space and facilities. It is recommended that stakeholders collaborate with management of the preschools to improve the quality of physical environment in order to enhance children’s development and education