LOW ENROLLMENT OF GIRLS IN FORM ONE, KIRIMARA ONTULILI ZONE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MERU CENTRAL DISTRICT, KENYA

TABLE OF CONTENT

DECLARATION ............................................................................. i

APPROVAL ................................................................................... ii

DEDICATION ............................................................................... iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT .................................................................... iv

DEFINITION OF TERMS ................................................................ v

TABLE OF CONTENT .................................................................... vi

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ................................................. x

LIST 0 F TABLES .......................................................................... xi

ABSTRACT ................................................................................. xii

CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................... 1

1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ..... : ....................................... 1

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ............................................... 4

1.3 Purpose of the Study .......... , ................................................... 5

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ................................................... 5

1.4.1 General ............................................................................... 5

1.4.2 Specific Objectives were: ........................................................ 5

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .......................................................... 6

1.6. SCOPE ............................................................................ 6

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ...................................................... 8

CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................... 9

LITERATUREREVIEW ................................................................... 9

VI

2.0. Introduction .......................................................................... 9

2.1 The status of Girls Education in Africa ....................................... 9

2.2 Reasons for Low Enrolment of Girls in form one or secondary schools

10

2.2.1. Safety and security of girls ................................................... 10

2.2.2. The curriculum .................................................................. 11

2.2.3. Harmful traditional practices ................................................ 11

2.2.4. Attitudes towards girl's education ......................................... 13

2.2. 5. Poverty ............................................................................ 14

2.2.6. Sanitary conditions ............................................................. 14

2.3 Theoretical framework ............................................................ 15

CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................... 1 7

METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 17

3.0 Introduction .......................................................................... 17

3.1 Research Design .................................................................... 17

3.2 Environment I Area and population of study .............................. 17

3.3 Sample selection .................................................................... 17

3.4 Data Collection ...................................................................... 17

3.4. 1 Research instruments .......................................................... 1 7

3.5. Data Collection Procedures ..................................................... 18

3.6. Meth-ods of data analysis ........................................................ 18

3.7 Statistical Treatment of Data ................................................... 18

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CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................ 19

FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATIONS ............................................... 19

4.1 Introduction .......................................................................... 19

4.2 Profile of the respondents ........................................................ 19

4.3 Reasons for low enrollment of girls in form one ........................... 20

4.3.1. Safety and security of girls and enrolment in secondary schools .20

4.3.2. The curriculum and enrollment of girls in form one .................. 22

4.3.3. Harmful traditional practices and enrollment of girls in form one24

4.3.4 Attitudes towards girls and enrollment of girls in form one ......... 29

4.3.5. Poverty and enrolment of girls in form one .............................. 34

4.3.2 Sanitary conditions .............................................................. 37

CHAPTER FIVE .......................................................................... 38

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................... 38

5.0. Introduction .................................. ~ ...................................... 38

5.1. Summary ............................................................................ 38

5.2. Conclusion ........................................................................... 40

5.3. Recommendations ................................................................ .41

Areas further research ................................................................ .42

REFERENCES ........................................................................... .43

APPENDIX A: TRANSMITTAL LETTER ............................................ .45

APPENDIX B ............................................................................. .46

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE STUDENTS ......................................... .46

APPENDIX C .............................................................................. 50

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE WITH THE PARENTS ................ 50

APPENDIX D .............................................................................. 51

INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR THE TEACHERS ....................................... 51

APPENDIX E ............................................................................... 52

TIME SCHEDULE ......................................................................... 52

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APPENDIX F ............................................................................... 53

BUDGET .................................................................................... 53

APPENDIX G: MAP OF THE RESEARCH AREA ................................• 54

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ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the reasons for low

enrollment of girls in form one, Kirimara Ontulili Zone secondary schools

in Meru central district, Kenya.

Specific Objectives of the study were: To investigate the relationship

between security, safety and enrollment of girls in form one, examine the

relationship the curriculum and enrolment of girls in form one,

investigate the relationship between harmful traditional practices and

enrollment of girls in form one, to investigate the relationship between

attitudes towards girls and enrollment of girls in form one, to examine

the relationship between poverty and enrolment of girls in form one and

to examine the relationship between sanitary conditions and enrolment

of girls in form one

The methods used for data collection were questionnaires to the

. students, interviews for the teachers and focus group discussions with

the parents.               

The findings revealed that unsafe environment at school, gender biased

curriculum, harmful traditional ·practices, negative attitudes towards

girls education, poverty and sanitary conditions lead to low enrollment of

girls in form one.

The study recommended that, Family mobilization is vital to success in

educating girls. Information and awareness-raising campaigns should

target parents, particularly mothers and encourage them to register girls

in school. However, for the girl to remain and succeed in school,

thorough action must be taken to encourage families to change attitudes

and lighten the household workload of the girl and provide her with the

time and a comfortable space for learning at home. Families are called

upon to increase their involvement in the process of educating their

daughters by providing adequate follow-up to academic learning at

school and at home.

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