EGRA Teachers’ Capacity-Building Interventions on Reading Abilities of Early Grade Learners in Public Primary Schools in Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

Early Grade Reading activities is an initiative implemented in Kenya with the aim of improving reading among learners in grades one to three. This programme encompasses various interventions. This study sought to investigate the influence of the Early Grade Reading Activities (EGRA) teachers’ capacity-building interventions on the reading abilities of learners in public primary schools in Kiambu County. The specific objective of the study was to examine the influence of teachers’ capacity-building  interventions on reading abilities of early grade learners in public primary schools in Kiambu County.The study utilized the descriptive survey research design The study was guided by the Vygotsky’s Socio-cultural Cognitive Development Theory.  The target population was 26,156 individuals from the 576 public primary schools in Kiambu county. This population comprised  1,408 grade one to three teachers and 24,748 grade 3 learners in the public primary schools in Kiambu County. A sample of 1066 individuals comprising of 57 lower grade teachers and 1009 grade 3 learners were selected using the cluster sampling technique. Teacher’s Questionnaire were used to collect data from the teachers while an achievement test was used to collect data from learners. Data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviation while the linear regression method was used to test the relationships between variables. Results showed that teachers’ capacity building (β= 0.474, t= 4.055, p<.001) had a positive and statistically significant influence on learners reading abilities. The study concludes that interventions that seek to build teacher capacity are effective in improving early grade reading abilities. This information could be of great significance in designing future programmes that reflect good practices and implementation. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education should sustain EGRA teachers’ capacity building approaches at the end of the EGRA programme.