Socioeconomic determinants of girl-child dropout in public primary schools in Kaloleni Division, Nairobi County
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Date
2012Author
Wahome, Esther W
Type
ThesisLanguage
en_USMetadata
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This was a cross sectional explanatory study on socio-economic factors leading to girl child drop-out from public primary schools in Kaloleni Division of Nairobi County. Specifically, the study sought to determine the social and economic factors leading to drop out. The study was guided by the school drop-out conceptual framework developed by Okumu et al. (2008). Snowball sampling was used to select 30 drop-outs from public primary schools in Kaloleni Division. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and key informant interviews, and analyzed thematically. The findings are presented in verbatim quotes and
selected anecdotes.
The study findings indicate that the socioeconomic factors that determine girl-child drop- out include marriage, lack of mentorship by teachers and parents, teenage pregnancies and poor performance. Economically, poverty was established as the major cause of the girl- child drop-out. The study concludes that socioeconomic factors have a ripple and a mutually reinforcing relationship and contribute greatly to high drop-outs if not checked in time.
The study recommends that the City Education Department initiates a mentorship programme for girls in primary schools in collaboration with institutions like Girl Child Network for the purposes of mentoring the girl child. In addition, the local administration, the Children's Department, the Ministry of Education and some development partners This was a cross sectional explanatory study on socio-economic factors leading to girl child should mobilize and rally the community in protecting the girl child from hannful practices such as early marriage and child labour. Finally, the study proposes a need for further study on school-based factors that lead to girl-child drop-out in similar set-ups in order to illuminate on the issues that have received less coverage in previous studies.
Publisher
University of Nairobi, Kenya