School-Parent Engagement On Stimulation Activities

East African Journal of Education Studies, Volume 7, Issue 2, 2024
Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.37284/eajes.7.2.1857
East African Journal of Education

Studies
eajes.eanso.org EAST AFRICAN
NATURE &
Volume 7, Issue 2, 2024 SCIENCE
Print ISSN: 2707-3939 | Online ISSN: 2707-3947 ORGANIZATION
Title DOI: https://doi.org/10.37284/2707-3947
Original Article
School-Parent Engagement on Stimulation Activities in Pre-Primary

Schools in Kira Municipality in Wakiso District, Uganda
Safina Mutumba1*, Dr. Sr. Evangelista Busingye, PhD1 & Dr. John Samson Maani, PhD1
1 Kyambogo University P. O. Box 1, Kampala, Uganda.
* Author for Correspondence Email: [email protected]
Date Published: ABSTRACT
11 April 2024 Stimulation activities are events that parents and other caregivers give to the
children to support their cognitive, emotional, and physical needs right from
birth onwards. For instance, playing and talking with them (even before
Keywords:
children can respond verbally), and exposing them to words, numbers, and
School-Parent simple concepts while engaging in daily routines. Whereas School-parent
Engagement, engagement is where schools tend to create partnerships between themselves
and the parents so that they are able to work together, most especially pertaining
Stimulation
to their children’s education and holistic development. Schools can work with
Activities, parents in making decisions, setting goals and attaining academic outcomes.
Pre-Primary This contributes to the enhancement of children’s holistic growth and
Schools. development. This research study, therefore, aimed at examining school-parent
engagement in Pre-primary schools in Kira Municipality, Wakiso District,
Uganda which has remained a gap for long. The study used a descriptive cross-
sectional survey design. Data was collected using both quantitative and
qualitative instruments. These included; Focus group discussion guides,
document analysis guide, observation checklist, and questionnaires. The
respondents included; headteachers, Centre Management Committee (CMC)
chairpersons, parents, and teachers. The findings of this study show that parents
were not closely working with the school to stimulate children’s learning.
Schools reported significantly lower levels of parents came in to check on their
children’s books or to submit homework, or drop and pick a child from school.
Parents were majorly coming in for meetings and any event that had been
organised by the school or to pay fees dues. Three major recommendations
regarding parent engagement in stimulation activities were given. These
included; ensuring that parents understand what stimulation activities mean, the
materials to use and their role in supporting their children’s learning. Then, it
also suggested the best approach to ensure that stimulation activities are
provided to the children both at Pre-primary school and at home for continuity
of learning. The paper concludes by suggesting recommendations on the need
for school-parent engagement to ensure that effective stimulation activities are
provided at the Pre-primary schools. Thus, enabling children to receive
integrated stimulation opportunities that are contextualised.
APA CITATION
Mutumba, S., Busingye, E. & Maani, J. S. (2024). School-Parent Engagement on Stimulation Activities in Pre-Primary
Schools in Kira Municipality in Wakiso District, Uganda East African Journal of Education Studies, 7(2), 44-54.
https://doi.org/10.37284/eajes.7.2.1857
44 | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
CHICAGO CITATION
Mutumba, Safina, Evangelista Busingye and John Samson Maani. 2024. “Role of Employee Commitment in Total Quality
Management on Performance of Institutions of Higher Learning in Kenya”. East African Journal of Education Studies 7
(2), 44-54. https://doi.org/10.37284/eajes.7.2.1857
HARVARD CITATION
Mutumba, S., Busingye, E. & Maani, J. S. (2024) “Role of Employee Commitment in Total Quality Management on
Performance of Institutions of Higher Learning in Kenya”, East African Journal of Education Studies, 7(2), pp. 44-54. doi:
10.37284/eajes.7.2.1857.
IEEE CITATION
S., Mutumba, E., Busingye & J. S., Maani “Role of Employee Commitment in Total Quality Management on Performance
of Institutions of Higher Learning in Kenya” EAJES, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 44-54, Apr. 2024.
MLA CITATION
Mutumba, Safina, Evangelista Busingye & John Samson Maani. “Role of Employee Commitment in Total Quality
Management on Performance of Institutions of Higher Learning in Kenya”. East African Journal of Education Studies, Vol.
7, no. 2, Apr. 2024, pp. 44-54, doi:10.37284/eajes.7.2.1857
INTRODUCTION schools (Martin et al., 1999). For instance, issues

of poverty, inequalities in the provision of
A strong relationship between the school and the
facilities, and child dropouts.
parents on the stimulation of their children’s
learning has long been recognised to be of great Much as school-parent engagement has been
benefit across the globe (Mleczko & Kington; observed to be significant in achieving stimulation
2013). To ensure that children thrive to their and early learning activities in Kira Municipality
fullest, stimulation intercessions are critical in and is highly needed, there is limited research
enhancing their sustained intelligence (Meghir et about it. The majority of research papers on
al., 2023). This contributes to increasing parental engagement in Uganda and specifically
children’s reasoning, language development, Kira Municipality focused on children at a higher
decision-making, and school readiness, as level, ignoring the Pre-primary learners.
compared with children who do not receive such Engagement of parents including other
interventions (Meghir et al., 2023). The study stakeholders has been very low in frequency.
points out that all children need a range of Where it is observed parents are only involved at
stimulation activities as a basis for their lifelong a glance and not fully part of the implementation.
learning. Being that parents are the first centre of This has been observed in informal documents.
reference and teachers to their children; it is Though not effectively implemented, school-
significant that schools work closely with them. based engagement in Uganda has been recognised
Similarly, Manzon et al. (2015), recognised that since the launch of the National Integrated Early
parents play an important role in the achievement Childhood Development (NIECD) Policy
of their children’s education. This would (MOGLSD, 2016). Since Pre-primary schools in
contribute to the nurturing and upbringing of a Uganda are private-led, the recent study by
child with the full package of acceptable life skills GENISIS and UNICEF reflected that only 16.6%
and values in addition to early learning and of the Ugandan children are accessing early
stimulation. Mleczko et al. (2013), observed that childhood care and education services in a quality
children whose parents worked closely with the facility (GENISIS, 2023). Evidence also suggests
school, their children performed better in school that parents may be uninterested in educational
in terms of grades, passed their classes and earned engagement most especially in rural areas. This
credits, attended school regularly, had better article, therefore, aims to lay a foundation on
social skills, showed improved behaviour, and which Pre-primary school practitioners can
adapted well to school. This makes school-parent appreciate the role of the parents in the
engagement to be critical for a child’s holistic development of their children’s stimulation. It
development. However, notwithstanding the provides some findings of what was observed in
strong indication of its advantages, parental the field in addition to the literature both at local
engagement doesn’t solve all the challenges in and international level, on school-parent
engagement. The literature also reviews similar landscape supports the child’s holistic growth and
papers that show success in implementing the development. Urie Bronfenbrenner an American
model. psychologist, born in 1917 and lived up to 2005
(Härkönen, 2001); applied a general systems
Purpose of the Study
theory to human development in the 1970s.
The purpose of the study was to examine school- Bronfenbrenner (1979), in his ecological systems
parent engagement in stimulation activities in pre- theory puts emphasis on the quality and context of
primary schools in Kira Municipality, Wakiso the child’s total environment. The ecological
District, Uganda. systems theory focusses on the phenomenon of
human growth and development. It comprises the
Objectives of the Study
human ecosystems that entails physical factors
This study was guided by the following such as the climate, space, home and school; and
objectives: the social environment including the family,
culture, and the larger society (Bronfenbrenner,
• To establish the influence of School-Parents
1979; 2000; Gordon & Browne, 2017). The
Engagement on Stimulation Activities.
ecological systems theory observed that
• To find out the type of stimulation activities children’s development is initially influenced by
that the school develops together with the their microsystem which represents the first level
parents with which the child interacts closely. For
example, the classroom, playground, recreation
• To assess the relationship between the school- centres, the home, religious institutions and the
parent engagement in stimulation activities neighbourhood.
and the available documents.
Besides that, there is a mesosystem which
Questions represents the second level. Bronfenbrenner
• What is the influence of School-Parents (1979) identified it as an interrelationship between
engagement on stimulation activities? two or more environments in which the child
develops or actively participates. These include
• What types of stimulation activities does the any organisation such as the day care centre,
school develop together with the parents? school, health centre, and kindergarten, among
others. More so, there are other systems,
Hypothesis
including, the ecosystem, macrosystem, and
• Relationship between the school-parent chronosystem. Each of them represents the
engagement in stimulation activities and the broader cultural, political, social, and economic
available documents. systems. For instance, the government’s policies,
cultural values, and standards indirectly affect
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
children’s development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979).
School-Community Ecological Systems Model The theory stresses the importance of studying a
The study was underpinned by the ecological child in the context of multiple environments that
systems theory: The ecological systems theory, explain his/her overall growth and development.
which of recently has been renamed In Bronfenbrenner’s view, stakeholders within the
“bioecological systems theory” focuses on a child’s immediacy have a significant role to play
child’s growth and development within the setting and they need to work together to make sure that
of the system of relationships that form his/her services reach the child. The diagram below
overall environment (Ryan, 2001). The summarises what it ought to be in the ecological
interactions between factors within the child’s systems theory.
proximity, the family/community, and the societal
Figure 1: Applying Bronfenbrenner’s done using the random sampling technique. For
Ecological Systems Theory the teachers, those that had a qualification of
teaching were considered. The researcher
collected data using questionnaires, observations
and focus group discussions to gather information
about parents’ engagement in stimulation
activities in schools. The data collection tools
included items that assessed the frequency and
types of activities parents engage in with their
children, their perceptions of the significance of
stimulation activities, and the barriers that are
mitigating their participation.
A descriptive analysis was conducted to

summarize and describe the findings. This
involved calculating the frequencies and
percentages and identification of themes. The
Source: Adopted from Bronfenbrenner, (1979)
descriptive findings were interpreted to gain
METHODOLOGY insights into the level and nature of parent
engagement in stimulation activities in schools.
A review of school-parent engagement on The engagement levels were compared across
stimulation activities for children in Pre-primary levels of the different demographic groups and the
schools specifically the three-to-six-year age level of school. For instance, the parents’ level of
group was undertaken to enable a detailed scrutiny education, socioeconomic status to inform the
of pertinent features of the study. kind of results and the disparities or differences in
A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was the engagement and involvement pattern.
applied with the use of both qualitative and The study included an analysis of the various
quantitative methods in data collection and records in the pre-primary schools to establish
analysis. The design was suitable for collecting whether school-parent engagements are used to
data about people and their preferences, thoughts, enhance the implementation of stimulation
attitudes, and behaviour which supported the activities in schools. Such documents included the
generalisation of the data in a systematic way visitors’ books, ECD Policies and Guidelines,
(Bhattacherjee, 2012; Creswell, 2014). Learning Framework, work plans, attendance lists
Qualitative and quantitative methods were used in for the parents’ attending meetings at school,
the process of data collection. The descriptive minutes for the various meetings, and
cross-sectional survey design was used to collect, correspondences. Mills (2007) identified
examine and analyse the data at the same time. It document analysis to be credible in supporting the
was used to provide a snapshot on the current state researcher in getting a broad picture of what had
of parent involvement, the type of stimulation already been done in relation to the study. During
activities being conducted, and the factors the document analysis process, the research
influencing parental involvement into school developed a guiding document which was used to
activities. identify the documents that give a description of
The sampling strategy was used to select a the involvement and engagement of the various
representative sample of participants from the stakeholders in the implementation of integrated
schools and amongst other stakeholder that work ECCE services at the Pre-Primary school. Since
with the school on the provision of learning and the study was a survey that aimed at generalised
child stimulation activities. This was randomly findings, the researcher used the questionnaire
methods to collect large amounts of data. The included; headteachers of pre-primary schools,
observation method was used during the process and Centre Management Committee (CMC)
of collecting data from the observable chairpersons among others, all from Kira
components of the study. This was on both Municipality, Wakiso District. The total
documents and activities that inform the study. population of such stakeholders was 340. Using
Krejcie and Morgan (1970) technique, out of 348
According to Tetui et al. (2021), the projected
participants, a sample of 252 members was
population of Kira Municipality is over 400,000
targeted. The sample size was determined to
residents whereby 47.8% are male while 52.2%
ensure that the sample size was representative of
are female. Since the study focused on children in
the sample population. Purposive and simple
pre-primary, the target population consisted of
random sampling was used. Table 1 gives a
stakeholders that deliver services to children
summary of the sample size and sampling
between the age of 3-5 years. Both within the Pre-
technique of the study.
primary schools and the community. These
Table 1: A summary of the sample size and sampling technique of the study
Category Population Sample
Headteachers of Pre-primary schools 150 108
Chairperson of CMC 150 108
LC Chairpersons 40 36
Total 340 252
The research instruments were to help in in a way that allowed respondents to read,
achieving the objectives of the study. These understand, and easily respond to them in a
included; a document analysis guide, observation meaningful manner. They consisted of a set of
checklist, focus group discussion guides, and questions planned to capture responses from the
questionnaires. targeted population in a standardised way on
matters concerning School-parent engagement in
In addition, various instruments were used to
stimulation activities. Observation checklists
compare the responses given by different
were used to verify what was going on at the Pre-
stakeholders and participants for validity and
primary school in relation to the study; for
credibility (Hendricks, 2009). The author
instance, photos and pictures from the health
identified that credibility could be established
centres and other sources plus activities that were
through triangulation, a process that allowed the
going on within the school. Similarly, schools
use of multiple forms of data collection and
keep photos as evidence of what has taken place
analysis. Being a qualitative and quantitative
within the school. These were used as evidence for
study, the two were used to collect data. During
the activities that had taken place during the study
the study, document analysis guides were used to
process. Hendricks (2009) emphasised that
collect data from the available documents in the
observations could be used to identify evidence
pre-primary schools. Mills (2007) identified
for the findings.
document analysis to be credible in getting a
broad picture of what had been done in relation to Study variables were measured using item scales
the study. Interview guides were used to collect developed by previous scholars with
qualitative data from key informants. This was modifications to fit the context of the study. This
both text and audio recorded. Interviews was because these item scales were developed in
supported in getting in-depth information and advanced countries. To ensure validity and
clarification on the ongoing activities. reliability, the questionnaires were developed and
presented to the supervisors for approval. The
Questionnaires were one of the instruments used
approved tools were presented to practitioners for
for data collection. The questions were designed
expectorating as relevant or irrelevant question
items so as to establish the content validity index. FINDINGS

A content validity index above 75% was accepted.
School-Parents Engagement and Stimulation
Reliability was tested using Coro bash to test the
Activities
internal consistency of the instruments. After
faculty approval, instruments were tested the The study revealed that school-parent engagement
researcher worked on the corrections with the promotes children’s stimulation and early
supervisor and also tested the instruments. After learning through the provision of numerous
this the researcher took the proposal for ethical stimulation activities. Though it was not
clearance to the internal review board (IRB), effectively done in the schools, the majority of the
followed by the approval from Uganda National respondents agreed that if parents are fully
Council for Science and Technology (UNCST). engaged and doing what is expected of them; it
Besides that, the researcher used the IRB and would contribute to an increase in stimulation
UNCST approvals to get the faculty introductory resources. Besides that, children’s learning and
letters to the field. Then the researcher carried out stimulation would be better.
pre-visits to all the participants to enable them to
The data was collected through the use of
fill out the consent forms.
observations, focus group discussions and
Finally, the process of data collection proceeded. document analysis. During the observations, a lot
The qualitative data was coded, cleaned, and of concentration was put on the kind of
organised into themes that answered the research stimulation activities that were given to learners
questions to which they were addressed. Having in the class and outside class. The approach used
organised the data, the researcher used thematic and the stakeholders that were engaged during the
content analysis to analyse the qualitative data. process. When a parent came into the school, the
Quantitative data was sorted and entered into researcher was keen at finding out what exactly
SPSS data from which the descriptive analysis the parent had come to do. It was observed that
was employed to arrive at inferences as per the teachers were providing the stimulation activities
set-out objectives. Consent from the Ministry of to children by themselves, parents only came in to
Education and Sports; and the Ministry of Science clear school dues, drop a child, submit homework
and Technology was obtained. Clarification on or participate in a class meeting. This kind of
the purpose of the study was made to both the observation was made in almost all the schools.
District Local Government and the site head To verify the observations, focus group
teachers of the Pre-Primary schools where the discussions were carried out with the various
research was conducted, including the various stakeholders that had been highlighted to provide
institutions within the community. Confidentiality support on the stimulation of children.
was treated with respect. Neither names nor
During the focus group discussions, headteachers,
addresses were included in the report or exposed
teachers, selected parents and the centre
to the public instead pseudonyms have been used
management chairperson were engaged. The
as agreed. Consent documents were provided to
information shared revealed that, much as they
participants as an assurance of their rights. The
knew the importance of collaborating with
researcher declared to the participants that they
parents, and parents working together with the
were not restricted to the study if they felt
school, they hadn’t been putting a lot of attention
uncomfortable and that the study did not intend to
to it. Most of the schools revealed that the parents
harm them.
had no time to stay around the school for long.
Even when they claimed that parents come for
meetings, the minutes and attendance lists
revealed that not all the parents participate in
school meetings.
Using the document analysis guide, minutes, All the data was recorded and analysed to come
attendance lists, school workplans, teachers’ up with the final results.
schemes of work, reports and lesson plans were
After collection of data, the responses were
analysed. The findings revealed that much as
tabulated in numerical form showing percentages
schools blamed parents for not being involved
of those who had evidence of stimulation
into their children’s learning and stimulation
activities in schools and those who didn’t have it.
activities, even the workplans of the schools had
The presented data was analysed using descriptive
not included it. The attendance lists for meetings
statistics and presented in bar graph figures.
reflected that a number of the parents were not
participating in the meetings organised at school.
Table 2: Evidence for physical infrastructure/activities for stimulation activities
ITEM Total No. No. % With No. %Without
of Schools With Without
Evidence of Stimulation Materials 108 41 37.9% 67 62%
Work Plan with evidence of 108 22 20.3% 86 79.6%
stimulation activities
Evidence Parents/Community 108 25 23.1% 83 76.8%
Participation
Evidence of MOU / Contracts with 108 09 8.3% 99 91.6%
Parents
Source: Primary Data
Table 1 above presents the comparison of the planned stimulation activities. 76.8% of the
scores between the schools that had evidence of schools were not either involving the community
stimulation activities and those that didn’t. 62% of or the parents; while 23.1% were involving them.
the participating schools didn’t have stimulation On the existence of formal engagement contracts
materials whereas 37.9% had stimulation with parents, only 8.3% had evidence of contracts
materials. 79.6% had no evidence of planned while 91.6% had no formal contracts with parents
stimulation activities on parent community engaged in child stimulation.
participation whereas only 20.3% had evidence of
Table 3: Evidence of Documentation for Supporting Stimulation Activities
ITEM Total No. of No. % With No. % Without
Schools With Without
Learning Framework 108 64 59.2% 44 40.7%
Work Plan Document 108 12 11.1% 96 88.9%
Minutes 108 41 37.9% 67 62%
Readers 108 37 34.2% 71 65.7%
Records of Visits 108 32 29.6% 76 70.4%
Source: Primary Data
In Table 3, the scores on school-parent stimulation activities. Availability of minutes for

engagement in stimulation activities were, 59.2% meetings that showed evidence of school-parent
of the schools that had learning frameworks and engagement in stimulation activities, there were
were using them to plan stimulation activities, 37.9% showed that they had discussed parent-
whereas 40.7% did not have and were not using school engagement in stimulation activities,
the learning framework. 11.1% of the participants whereas 62.1% had not discussed any parent-
had work plans with evidence of stimulation school engagement in the stimulation of children.
activities planned for, while 88.9% had no work When it came to readers as part of evidence for
plans and there was no evidence of planned stimulation activities, 34.2% of the schools had
readers while 65.7% had no readers as part of and words among others, can be provided by
stimulation materials. Finally, there was evidence schools together with the parents. However,
in the visitors’ records in which the study was to notwithstanding the strong indication of its
find out if parents were visiting the schools for advantages, parental engagement doesn’t solve all
purposes of engaging in stimulation activities. the challenges in schools (Martin et al., 1999).
The data showed that 29.6% of the parents who
Whereas a similar study was undertaken in Ghana
visited the schools were specifically coming to
and discovered that in spite of the great benefits of
play a role in child stimulation whereas 70.4% of
parental engagement in early childhood
the parents who visited the Pre-primary schools
settings/schools, there were variances (Bartoli et
were for other purposes that are not related to
al., 2022), the responses were different, for
child stimulation.
instance, families differed in status, while schools
DISCUSSION didn’t have structured policies to guide them.
According to the results of this study, “School-
School-Parents Engagement and Stimulation
parent engagement in developing child-
Activities
stimulation materials was not prominent. The
During the first years of life, there is an responses from the majority of the participants
occurrence of rapid growth and development in all reflected that as much as they knew about the
domains, creating a robust foundation for learning policies and observed parent engagement to be
future skills (Baker-Henningham et al., 2010). important, the parents had no time to develop
This implies that since parents are the first centre stimulation materials together with the school.
of reference when their children are born, they The parents that somehow collaborated with the
understand them better than anyone else school, only went there to either pay school fees,
especially when they are very close to them. pick a child from school, or attend a meeting.
Research has observed that parents are the first However, the headteachers appreciated the need
teachers of their children (Manzon et al., 2015). for parents to work together while developing
As children grow and develop, they need support stimulation materials so that children can be able
from all the stakeholders in spite of where they are to interact with the materials both at school and at
or depending on the required service. Young home.
children need a stimulating environment right
from birth to enable them to acquire various skills In addition, some teachers observed that this can
in preparation for their lifelong learning. widen the scope of children’s learning. This was
Wasserman and Zambo (2013) identified the observed when the headteacher from school A
importance of the parents and the school to work stated, “How I wish our parents could get such
together. This would help in mitigating the effects information, it would help us a lot. They will even
of the child’s early home and school experiences be able to provide the materials”. Besides that, in
on brain growth and development for the rest of spite of the significant role of parent-school
his/her lifetime. But also develop stimulation stimulation materials, the findings reflected that
activities to stimulate children’s cognitive and there was limited parental engagement in the
non-cognitive development. Cuartas et al. (2023) development of stimulation materials. This was
recognised parents’ engagement in stimulation observed when the headteacher of school B stated,
activities to be strong in promoting children’s If this approach is used, there are very few
development in multiple domains such as schools doing it. If not, none. How I wish
emergent literacy, numeracy, and motor skills parents would be part of us when developing
development. On top of the development of such materials. This would help our children
stimulation materials, activities such as reading even to learn better. Because they will be
books, storytelling, singing songs, counting, seeing their parents developing the
playing simple games, matching numbers, letters, materials”.
Therefore, the fact that the human brain develops “These parents here, hmm! They claim that
up to 90% during the first five years of they don’t have time, as long as they bring the
development (Wasserman et al., 2013) it is children to school, they think that is enough
imperative that parents and the school work in most especially here in Kira Municipality, the
collaboration to support early learning and people are money minded”.
stimulation. This would help children to become
Yet early childhood stimulation enhances
independent, resilient, and appreciate the reason
children’s critical thinking skills, communication
for every transition. Christenson and Reschly
skills, confidence building, and connections with
(2010) identified a number of theoretical views on
their peers. Evidence from researchers shows that
children’s development and put emphasis on the
encouraging parents and caregivers to play and
importance of parental engagement in stimulating
interact with their children at the earliest stages in
their children’s learning. This could majorly be
an exciting way, advances their cognitive
done through parent-child collaboration and
development, and children with malnutrition or
interaction. Stimulating early learners’ senses
low socioeconomic status benefit most from such
enables them to reach developmental milestones
interventions which focus on strengthening
faster, as well as aids them in the development of
stimulation activities both at home and school
motor skills. Parents being the first teachers and
(Manzon et al., 2015). This implies that the Pre-
first centre of response, schools need to bring
Primary community should encourage the parents
them closer even when developing stimulating
to be strongly involved in the stimulation and
materials to enhance the learning and stimulation
learning of their children. Apart from learning
of children both at home and school.
and stimulation, children will be able to acquire
Evidence shows that encouraging parents or emergent life skills and values at the earliest stage.
caregivers to play and interact with children
STUDY CONCLUSION
during their first years of development in a
stimulating way through the use of a variety of The study concluded that school-parent
materials, improves their cognitive development. engagement contributes to the provision of
Such programmes increase the time and resources stimulation activities, these included but were not
parents invest in their children’s growth and limited to stimulation materials, such as readers,
development. Nevertheless, open questions ropes, flashcards, picture books, jig-saws, and
remain on how such programmes can be many others; stimulation activities, for instance,
effectively delivered at a large scale. There are a talking to the child, praising the child whenever
number of stimulating activities that the school he/she does something good, count with them,
and parents can provide to the learners. Such engaging them in play, reading a storybook or
activities include; talking to the child, praising picture books, playing games, drawing pictures,
them whenever they do something good and colouring or painting pictures, singing with them,
giving them lots of love, counting with them, playing simple games such as little piggy, patty
engaging them in play, reading a storybook or cake, puppets, and many others that capture their
picture book, playing games that involve the use attention. However, this was not significantly
of their hands and singing with the children and observed in the schools.
playing music. However, in spite of the
importance of school parent stimulation activities Recommendations of the Study
to enhance children’s learning and early The government through the Ministry of
stimulation, this wasn’t significantly observed or Education and Sports; and other line Ministries,
seen in Pre-primary schools. During the focus should distribute and disseminate legal
group discussions, one of the head teachers stated; frameworks, policies, and all operational
standards for awareness creation. This would help
the various stakeholders and practitioners to
understand their roles and responsibilities. Härkönen, U. (2001). The Bronfenbrenner

Besides that, they will get to know what is ecological systems theory of human
required of them. In addition, there is a need to development
organise refresher courses for teachers to enhance
Krage, V. A. (2018). Parent, teacher, and principal
their capacity in the provision of integrated
perspectives of parent engagement in a Title 1
services. Need for continuous updates on current
elementary school (Doctoral dissertation,
situations rather than keeping them in archives.
Walden University).
Besides that, it is significant to strengthen
coordination and working relationships with all Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970).
the various stakeholders with whom the Determining sample size for research
government works in the provision of stimulation activities. Educational and psychological
interventions. This would enable the identification measurement, 30(3), 607-610.
of areas that have gaps and those that need
support. There is a need for services to be Manzon, M., Miller, R., Hong, H., & Khong, L.
distributed evenly to all the areas of Kira (2015). Parent engagement in education.
Municipality and beyond. Finally, schools should National Institute of Education, 7.
be encouraged to closely engage parents and other Martin, A. Linfoot, K., & Stephenson, J. (1999).
community members to support the holistic How teachers respond to concerns about
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School-Parent Engagement On Stimulation Activities

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East African Journal of Education Studies, Volume 7, Issue 2, 2024

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.37284/eajes.7.2.1857

East African Journal of Education

School-Parent Engagement on Stimulation Activities in Pre-Primary

INTRODUCTION schools (Martin et al., 1999). For instance, issues

A descriptive analysis was conducted to

items so as to establish the content validity index. FINDINGS

In Table 3, the scores on school-parent stimulation activities. Availability of minutes for

understand their roles and responsibilities. Härkönen, U. (2001). The Bronfenbrenner

Municipality, Wakiso District, Uganda.

Wasserman, L. H., & Zambo, D. (Eds.). (2013).

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