Factors Affecting the Education of Children Accompanying Their Mothers to Prison: A Case of Kakamega and Kisumu Women Prisons, Kenya

Abstract

There has been considerable debate about whether children should stay in prison with their parents and if so the age at which they should have to leave. Clearly the conditions in prison and what alternative care arrangements are available are significant considerations. Where there is agreement is that while children remain in prison with their parents, their lives should be as similar as possible to how it would be on the outside and they should not be subject to the restrictions on their freedom that other residents of the prison are. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that affect the education children accompanying their mothers to prisons. The study was conducted at Kakamega and Kisumu Women Prisons in western Kenya. The study was guided by the following objective; To establish how teacher characteristics affect Early Childhood Development and Education of children accompanying their mothers in prisons and to assess how learning environment affect the education of children accompanying their mothers in prisons. The study objectives were formulated based the study constructs. The study respondents comprised 21 mothers and 6 teachers in both Kakamega and Kisumu women prisons. A standard questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected and analyzed. Quantitative data was analyzed using inferential statistics. From the study findings, teachers’ characteristics such as their qualifications affected the education of children accompanying their imprisoned mothers. Findings also indicated that parental perception towards Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) program in the prisons affected the education of children. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that there were a number of educational challenges facing education of children accompanying their imprisoned mothers. These challenges included lack of adequate teachers, lack of training for the teachers, poor learning environment and parental perception towards the education offered at the prisons. The study also concluded that the prison facilities did not have adequate teaching and learning facilities which affected teaching and learning of children that accompanied their mothers in prisons. Based on the above finding the study recommended that prisons departments should recruit and hire qualified and permanent teachers who are able to teach children accompanying their mothers in prisons. It was also recommended that the prisons should ensure that mothers that take their children with them to prison develop a positive attitude towards the education of their children. Due to the age differences of the children, different programmes could be organized for the different groups according to the age. Keywords: Education, children, imprisoned mothers