© Kamla-Raj 2016 Stud Tribes Tribals, 14(1): 18-28 (2016) Factors Affecting Rural Men’s Participation in Children’s Preschool in One Rural Education District in the Eastern Cape Province M. A. Mufutau 1 and C. I. O. Okeke 2 1 East London Education District, Eastern Cape, RSA 2 University of Fort Hare, East London, Eastern Cape, RSA KEYWORDS Childhood. Constraints. Education. Men Participation. Rural Community ABSTRACT A descriptive survey design enabled the use of a structured questionnaire instrument on 164 randomly selected men to obtain the factors affecting their participation in their children’s early education. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used for data analysis. Results show that demographic variables do not prevent men from participating in the early education of the children. Mothers constitute barriers to how men want to get involved in the child’s education. It also shows that the less educated men are more likely not to know how to help their children at home. No statistically significant relationship exists between the men’s occupations and their views on the factors that affect their participation. Occupation is not a determinant factor that can prevent men from taking part in children’s education. It is recommended that fathers be encouraged to develop positive attitudes towards the education of their children. More recommendations have been made. Address for correspondence: C.I.O. Okeke Professor University of Fort Hare, East London, Eastern Cape, RSA E-mail: cokeke@ufh.ac.za INTRODUCTION The importance of men’s participation in the early childhood education of their children has been highlighted in various studies (Atmore et al. 2012; Camlin et al. 2014 Change 2015; Mash- iya et al. 2015; Noel et al. 2015; Mathwasa and Okeke 2016; Mncanca et al. 2016). Notwithstand- ing, it is common that when issues or topics relating to stakeholders working in partnership with parents in the early childhood education (ECE) sector are being discussed, it is often tac- tically understood that men tend to be invisible in services of young children (Okeke 2014; Khewu and Adu 2015; Okeke et al. 2015; Mn- canca et al. 2016). Despite the growing publicity on the huge potentials of men’s participation in education by researchers in South Africa (see for instance, Lemmer 2009; Mmotlane et al. 2009; Richter et al. 2010; Mashiya et al. 2015), it would appear that little is known about the participa- tion of men in the early childhood development of children. Numerous studies show that fathers are faced with challenges with regards to contribut- ing to parenting of their children (Allen and Daly 2007; Berlyn et al. 2008; Roberts et al. 2014; Okeke et al. 2015; Mncanca et al. 2016). However, lack of empirical data on men’s participation in ECD and the barriers they face in South Africa would certainly create a huge gap in knowledge in the ECD sector. Secondly, such a scenario would constrain efforts aimed at intervention via poli- cies. It was thus essential to undertake the study of factors affecting men’s participation in early childhood education of their children. The re- searchers were of the opinion that by so doing, empirical evidence would be generated to im- pact the schools based support programs for men. Research Questions The following research questions were for- mulated to guide the study: 1. What are factors affecting rural men’s par- ticipation in the early education of their children? 2. What are the relationships between fathers’ demographic variables and the challenges they faced in their participation in early education of children? Theoretical Framework Social Capital Theory Social capital theory has been a very useful tool in understanding of the nature of social rela-