The Role and Influence of Vihiga County Government in the Implementation of the Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) Curriculum

The involvement of devolved government in the implementation of an ECDE curriculum is critical to the academic future of preschoolers. The ECDE centers require improvement which calls for enhanced support, financial or otherwise, not only from the county government but from other stakeholders as well. In the wake of a new political dispensation that saw most of hitherto centralized functions of the national government being devolved to county governments, the implementation of ECDE curricula across Kenya too became a devolved function.  Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to establish the role and influence of Vihiga County government in the implementation of the Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) Curriculum.  Gross’s Theory of Curriculum Implementation guided this study. The study applied a descriptive survey as the central design targeting ECDE teachers, ECDE curriculum implementation stakeholders, Curriculum Staff Officers, and Quality Assurance Officers in Vihiga County. Stratified random sampling was employed to raise a study sample of 20%. The questionnaire was the main instrument for data collection, but an interview schedule was used too. The study established that the devolved government plays a pivotal role in the process of ECDE curriculum implementation.  Furthermore, the study found that the County government of Vihiga has registered significant success in as far as the provision of teaching and learning materials goes, but more effort is required to ensure human resource development which is key in the ECDE curriculum implementation process. Keywords: QUASO, ECDE, Curriculum Implementation, CSO, ECDE Curricula. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-28-07 Publication date:October 31st 2020

Violation of Linguistic and Patient’s Rights in Kenya

Health communication, particularly patients’ rights, has become an issue of concern in the recent past. This paper exposes the patients’ rights violation on two main planes: the linguistic plane and the right to information plane. The paper also assesses the world trend on the aforementioned violations and finally contextualises the patient-physicians relationship models. The paper makes the following observations: there is need to reinforce the law on package inserts, especially, the inserts for the patients in both content and language. The PPIs should be translated into Kiswahili for ease readability and access to information. There is also need to enlighten the public and patients in particular on the patients’ rights and enact and implement the Freedom of Information for the public to hold the state responsible for accountability and quality service including health services.    Key words: Linguistic Human Rights, Patients’ Right, Health Communication, Patient Package Inserts

Corporate Social Responsibility and Consumer Behaviour in Nairobi and Nakuru: A Focus on Cause Related Marketing

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a concept that many companies both in the developed and developing world are embracing to show concern for the less privileged in society. Various companies have also used cause related marketing (CRM) programs to support worthy causes.

Effects of Quality of Working Life on Female Employees in Institutions of Higher Learning: A Case of the Catholic University of East Africa

The researchers undertook a study on the effects of a total rewards system on the motivation and quality of working life of female employees in institutions of higher learning: A case of the Catholic University of East Africa.  The research looked into the prevalent aspects of a total reward system in institutions of higher learning, the effects of these aspects on the motivation of the female employees, impact of these aspects have on their quality of working life and sought suggestions to improve the total reward system of institutions of higher learning. The population under study was the 127 female employees of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. A stratified sampling design was used with instruments used in data collection being questionnaires for everyone in the sample population and interviews with some selected individuals to verify the data filled in the questionnaires.   The data from this study was analyzed and presented using graphs, frequency tables and percentages to represent the data. The major findings of the study lead to the conclusion that the reward system in the institution’s reward system is perceived to be discriminative and not holistic in motivation though there is much room for improvement in meeting the gaps present. The research concludes by recommending review of the institution’s reward system and eliminating all aspects that don’t favor women and employing strategies that have holistic mechanisms of motivation of female employees. Keywords: employee compensation, total reward system and quality of work lif

CAPITAL STRUCTURE AND PROFITABILITY OF LARGE-SCALE RETAIL SUPERMARKETS IN KENYA

Capital structure decisions ensure that supermarket managers stipulate optimum capital structure for the organization. Despite the implementation of capital structure decisions, poor financial performance has plagued most of large-scale retailers for the past 20 years, forcing some to close some of its outlets. Uchumi supermarket, Tuskys supermarkets among other supermarkets have been making heavy losses leading to the closure of some of their branches. Uchumi has closed 3 5(95%) branches, Tuskys 61(95.3%) branches, and Choppies 13(87%) branches. According to an external audit report in 2020, Nakumatt owed creditors Ksh.38 billion yet the company gave over Ksh. 1 billion as interest-free soft loans to its directors. The objective of this study is to assess the effect of capital structure decisions on the profitability of large-scale retail supermarkets in Kenya. The study was anchored on the pecking order theory. The study employed a cross-sectional research design. A census sampling technique was employed where all the selected supermarkets were considered. Secondary data was collected from audited financial statements. Panel data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics comprised of minimum values, maximum values, mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics consisted of correlational analysis and random effects models. The study findings indicated that capital structure decisions have a negative and statistically significant effect on the profitability of large-scale retail supermarkets in Kenya. This is supported by a regression coefficient of –0.3479 and a p-value of 0.000. The study suggested that the management of retail stores should balance between debt and equity financing to ensure an optimum capital structure that maximizes profitability. JEL: O10; O12; L81  Article visualizations

Effects of a Total Rewards System on the Motivation and Quality of Working Life of Female Employees in Institutions of Higher Learning: A Case of the Catholic University of East Africa

The researchers undertook a study on the effects of a total rewards system on the motivation and quality of working life of female employees in institutions of higher learning: A case of the Catholic University of East Africa.  The research looked into the prevalent aspects of a total reward system in institutions of higher learning, the effects of these aspects on the motivation of the female employees, impact of these aspects have on their quality of working life and sought suggestions to improve the total reward system of institutions of higher learning. The population under study was the 127 female employees of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. A stratified sampling design was used with instruments used in data collection being questionnaires for everyone in the sample population and interviews with some selected individuals to verify the data filled in the questionnaires.   The data from this study was analyzed and presented using graphs, frequency tables and percentages to represent the data. The major findings of the study lead to the conclusion that the reward system in the institution’s reward system is perceived to be discriminative and not holistic in motivation though there is much room for improvement in meeting the gaps present. The research concludes by recommending review of the institution’s reward system and eliminating all aspects that don’t favor women and employing strategies that have holistic mechanisms of motivation of female employees. Key words: employee motivation, compensation, total reward system and quality of work lif

A Mobile-Health Information Access System

Patients using the Mobile-Health Information System can send SMS requests to a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) web server with the expectation of receiving an appropriate feedback on issues that relate to their health. The accuracy of such feedback is paramount to the mobile search user. However, automating SMS-based information search and retrieval poses significant challenges because of the inherent noise in SMS communication. First, in this paper an architecture is proposed for the implementation of the retrieval process, and second, an algorithm is developed for the best-ranked question-answer pair retrieval. We present an algorithm that assists in the selection of the best FAQ-query after the ranking of the query-answer pair. Results are generated based on the ranking of the FAQ-query. Our algorithm gives a better result in terms of average precision and recall when compared with the naıve retrieval algorithm.Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC)Department of HE and Training approved lis

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE CONSUMER RANKING OF RETAIL OUTLETS IN KENYA (A Case of Supermarkets in Kisii Town)

This study was about factors that influence the preference for retail outlets (supermarkets) by consumers in Kisii Town and the relative importance of such factors. The major objective of the study was to determine the factors that influence consumers' choice of the supermarket to patronize. Other specific objectives included, ranking the identified factors in order of their importance, to determine consumers' supermarket loyalty status and to find if demographic characteristics of consumers who patronized specific supermarkets was related to loyalty. To achieve this, a sample of 120 supermarket customers in all the eight supermarkets existing in Kisii town was selected using systematic sampling. The study utilized survey research and descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data collected. From the research the following were ranked as eight most important factors in influencing patronage: Adequate number of cashiers to reduce queuing, reasonable prices of products, employees' courtesy and warmth with customers, knowledgeable employees, display and arrangement of merchandise, convenient operating hours, availability of all types of merchandise and channel for customer complaints. It was also found out that consumers in Kisii town were loyal to specific supermarkets, however there was no evidence to prove that consumers' demographics influenced loyalty. In conclusion retailers should gear their marketing efforts towards satisfying consumers in order to influence their patronage decisions. KEY WORDS: Patronage, consumer loyalty, super market

Effects of Free Primary Education on the Quality of Education in Public Primary Schools in Kanduyi Sub-County of Bungoma County, Kenya

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of free primary education on the quality of education in public primary schools in Kanduyi Sub-county, Bungoma County. While free primary education has increased participation, it is being viewed as having affected the quality of education in public primary schools. The study examined the effects of enrolment, facilities and human resources due to free primary education on quality of education. The research adopted a descriptive survey because it was concerned with describing the characteristics of a particular group. The research used stratified random sampling by dividing the population into a number of groups of strata, where the members of the group shared a particular characteristic or characteristics. The target population included 30 head teachers, 164 teachers, 270 pupils. The sample was based on 30% the number of members in each group. The researcher used questionnaires, interview schedule and documentary analysis to collect data.  The questionnaire was the main instrument of primary data collection. The researcher randomly picked 2 head teachers, 10 teachers and 20 pupils who participated in the pilot study. These subjects were however omitted from the final research. Both construct and content validity were applied in this study to ensure that the dimensions that were being measured by the instrument of data collection adequately covered what was intended. In order to test reliability, the researcher pre-tested the questionnaires before undertaking the actual research, and a 0.74 reliability coefficient was obtained. Primary data was collected using open ended and closed ended questionnaires and this data was supplemented by secondary data. The data was then analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively by first data coding, error checking and pre-analytical computer check. On a 5-point Likert scale, the relevant variables’ dimensions were processed with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 computer software. This study found that education management should focus attention on strategies to increase enrolment of learners in each school in order to make FPE a success, communities need to be sensitized on the need to enroll children in FPE through offering support to ECDE to prepare the pupils going into primary level, and large numbers of pupils in classroom is responsible for the poor performance in Kanduyi Sub-County. It is there recommended that the government should take an active role in the implementation of the FPE program to ensure adequate enrollment. The government should review its policy on FPE so as to allow communities to supplement its effort in pursuit of effective impact and successful delivery FPE programme. It is therefore recommended that the government should take an active role in the provision of necessary funds, equipment and manpower if FPE programme has to succeed. The inferences drawn from this study will assist stakeholders in improving the quality of implementation of FPE by appropriately controlling the factors that affect quality of education. The data was analyzed using a descriptive statistical method, guided by the statistical packages of social science. Keywords: free primary education, quality of education, implementatio