TITLE:
Redefining Parental Involvement and Educational Access under Urban Poverty: Evidence from Informal Settlements in Nairobi County, Kenya
AUTHORS:
Oketch David Owuor, Milkah Ajuoga, Antony Wando Odek
KEYWORDS:
Parental Involvement, Educational Access, Informal Settlements, Urban Poverty, Kenya
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.13 No.5,
May
18,
2026
ABSTRACT: While existing studies have demonstrated the significant impact parents have on their child’s educational success, the models used in these studies do not provide enough data to measure how parental involvement influences educational outcomes when children are raised in poor and deprived communities such as informal settlements. This research examines the role of parental participation in the provision of primary education in Kibera, Mathare, and Korogocho informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, it relies on data from a survey of 300 respondents, 11 interviews, and nine focus group discussions. The analysis integrates statistical patterns and lived experiences to explain how behavioral and relational parental practices interact with material constraints to shape access to education. The results reveal that all aspects of parental participation positively and statistically correlate with the Educational Access Index. Parenting styles had the highest correlation coefficient value of 0.436 (p 2 = 0.271, F = 18.83, p