Effect of Preterm Birth on Learning Readiness of 3-6 Year Old Children in Nyando Subcounty, Kenya

Abstract

The central theme of this paper was motivated by the fact that when children are born preterm their language, psychomotor and social developments are affected since they have not undergone full growth and development stages. These learning competencies manifests in domains of children’s development to which children are prepared for learning readiness based on language, social and psychomotor development. However, this area has been neglected by studies in Kenya especially in Nyando Sub County. The study aimed to; determine the effect of preterm birth on learning readiness of 5-6 year old children. The study adopted comparative case study research study design. The target population was 40 Preschools, 72 pre-school children (36 Full term and 36 preterm). A sample of 40 Pre-school teachers, 72 parents and 20 hospital administrators were sampled using purposive sampling technique in the study. The study used questionnaire, interviews, document analysis and observation guide as research instruments. Data was analyzed descriptively using means, standard deviation and frequencies by statistical package of social sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. Results indicated that preterm birth affected learning readiness of preterm children adversely and in the view of the results, the hypotheses were rejected. The study concluded that learning competencies of preterm children is lower compared to full term children.