Influence of the Level of Parental Engagement Practices on Learners’ Digital Literacy Skills Development in Public Junior Schools in Gatundu South Sub-County, Kiambu County, Kenya

This study investigated the influence of the level of parental engagement practices on learners’ digital literacy skills development in public junior schools in Gatundu South Sub-County, Kiambu County, Keny. The research question that was used to guide the study was: What is the level of parental engagement in supporting learners’ digital literacy skills in public junior schools in Gatundu South Sub-County, Kiambu County? The study was anchored on Epstein's Theory of Overlapping Spheres of Influence, complemented by Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development and Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach; specifically, a convergent parallel design was used, which was a combination of a cross-sectional survey and phenomenology to collect quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. The target population included 58 public junior schools, 58 heads of institutions, 164 teachers, 2644 parents, and 2644 Grade 9 learners. The study adopted stratified sampling to sample 17 public junior schools, purposive sampling to sample 17 heads of institutions, stratified and simple random sampling to sample 49 teachers, systematic sampling to sample 347 learners, and purposive sampling to sample 347 parents to ensure fair representation of respondents. The study used questionnaires for teachers, parents, and Grade 9 learners; semi-structured interviews for heads of institutions, document analysis, and an observation guide to collect data. The Alpha coefficients of the study constructs were between 0.853 and 0.948. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression were used to analyze quantitative data, whereas thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data and combine them with quantitative results. The study revealed that the level of parental engagement practices significantly influenced learners’ digital literacy skills development in public junior schools. Higher parental involvement through digital guidance, monitoring, resource support, and encouragement enhanced learners’ confidence and competence in using digital technologies. The study concludes that parental engagement is essential for effective digital literacy development and recommends strengthening parent awareness programmes, digital skills training, and collaboration between schools and families.