Factors influencing transition of girls from primary to secondary school: a case of teso north district, Busia county, kenya
Abstract
As the world settles into 21
st
Century and beyond gender disparities and inequali
ty in
education is a glaring reminder of this failed obje
ctives and missed targets in regard to equal
access to education as expressed by the Internation
al Conferences Convention and
declaration, which many countries including Kenya h
as ratified. The Dakar World Education
Forum (2000) and the Millenium Development Goals (M
DGs) of 2000 spelt out International
commitments to guide the achievement of positive re
sults for gender parity by 2005 and
gender equity by 2015 in primary and secondary educ
ation; as well as in tertiary levels.
While there has been rapid increase in the enrolmen
t of girls in primary school in the
developing world, transition remains a daunting cha
llenge. The purpose of this research study
was to determine factors influencing the transition
of girls from primary school to secondary
school. The objectives of this study were: to deter
mine the influence of; socio-economic
factors, socio-cultural factors, the role of NGOs a
ctivities on transition of girls from primary
to secondary school in Teso North District of Busia
County. It is hoped this study may
contribute to the existing body of knowledge to res
earchers and academicians seeking
secondary data on the factors that influence transi
tion of girls from primary school to
secondary school. The study was based on Liberal F
eminist Theory and Transition Model.
The study employed descriptive survey design which
enabled the researcher to obtain
opinions of head teachers, girls and parents in the
ir natural setting. The target population was
130 composed of head teachers, girls who dropped ou
t of school and their parents. The
sample size of the study was 97 respondents. The sa
mple size was derived from Krejcie and
Morgan table (1970). Simple random sampling was use
d to select the sample of head teachers
from schools, while purposive sampling was used to
select girls and their parents from the
target population. Questionnaire was used to collec
t data. The researcher performed pilot
testing of the instrument by administering the ques
tionnaires to 10% of the total sample size.
Validity of the research instrument was determined
through content validity while reliability
was measured by use of Cronbach’s alpha. A score of
0.929 was attained thereby qualifying
the research instrument as acceptable and reliable.
Qualitative data was analysed using
conceptual content analysis. In addition, the resea
rcher conducted a Karl Pearson’s Product
moment correlation coefficient to ascertain whether
a statistical significant relationship exists
between the independent variables and the dependent
variable using the SPSS software. The
study established that socio-economic factors have
a great influence on transition of girls
from primary to secondary school with coefficient o
f 0.987.
Socio-cultural factors and NGOs activities also had
significant influence on transition of girls from
primary to secondary with correlation coefficients
of 0.964 and 0.903 respectively.
Meaning in this
study all the three variables had significant posit
ive relationships with the dependent variable,
transition of girls. From the findings, the study c
oncludes that socio-economic factors have a great
influence on transition of girls from primary to se
condary school. The study found that resource that
parents/guardians own are the significant component
s of socio-economic factors which should be
considered in order to achieve government policy of
“Education for All” in Kenya
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5964]