By MICHAEL ORIEDO

At the beginning of the school year, Ms Sylvia Bosire had a tough time finding a school for her six-year-old daughter.

The girl had completed nursery school but since Bosire, an administrative assistant at a company in Nairobi, did not have enough money to enrol her in a private primary school near her home in Komarock, she contemplated making her repeat preschool.

But before the single mother could make up her mind she got the money. Armed with it, Bosire went to the school only to be turned away because Standard One was full. Convinced that her daughter can only get a good education foundation that would open up many opportunities in future by going to a private school, Bosire visited other schools, but failed to get a place. She finally enrolled her daughter in a private primary school far away from home hoping to transfer her as the year progressed.

In the same estate live the Mutungas who had an easy time when their last-born son was joining class one. The couple had reserved space at a private school near their home the previous year and their son reported on the first day of school.

Bosire and the Mutungas are perfect examples of how the family a child comes from affects their learning path and academic performance.

While some households enhance children’s chances of enrolling and excelling in school, others increase their risk of dropping out of school, performing poorly or not attending school at all.

A study by Africa Population Health and Research Centre (APHRC) finds that home location, family size and income as well as family head’s level of education and sex influence performance of pupils.

These factors have a great impact on schooling decisions parents make for their children, finds the study that sampled 7,475 pupils in schools in Harambee, Jericho, Korogocho and Viwandani, in Nairobi.

In large families the researchers observed that children tended to start school late or not at all. "In a household with between five and nine members the probability of not enrolling a child in school stood at 0.9 per cent. This reduced by 3.1 per cent if the household had more than ten members."

This, according to study, is because the bigger the family, the smaller the resources allocated to different needs including education. A child from a large family will delay starting school or will lack education items like uniform, books and meals, as parents strive to cater for basic needs. "Large households are associated with lower per capita expenditure. This reduces resources available to children for education.

Similarly, in homes with elderly people and young children, the study reports, many parents do not give education of their children the attention it deserves. The two groups increase a family’s expenditure on living expenses resulting in reduced allocation of resources for education. "They are more prone to health problems thereby decreasing household resources available to other needs such as education," says the research.

Parents’ income is a major influence on schooling decisions. Among the pupils sampled, wealthier parents had the privilege to choose the type of schools to enrol their children whereas poor parents had to consider whether to enrol or not.

Like in Bosire’s case, some parents postponed taking their children to school until funds for school fees and other items such as uniforms and shoes were available.

role models

The study Do Household Characteristics Matter in Schooling Decisions, explored how learning opportunities increase for children in homes with responsible adults. In such homes, schoolchildren get moral support, help with schoolwork and learning resources, which boosts their morale and interest in education. The children are, therefore, likely to perform better than their counterparts who have no role models.

Parents’ level of education and gender of the family head have a direct impact on schooling decisions. In households where the head had post-secondary education, parents give education a priority. For instance, children started schooling early. Likewise, in a household headed by a woman, especially in the slums, they found out that children began their school early.

Interestingly, the study finds that poor slum residents and the rich both prefer private schools, though for different reasons. Apparently there are few public schools in the slums and they are inaccessible to residents because of congestion and insecurity children are exposed to when they walk long distances to school. Therefore, many parents prefer to enrol their children in ill-equipped private primary schools scattered in slums.

The wealthy enrol their children in private schools because of better facilities and education quality.