INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL CULTURAL FACTORS ON ACCESS OF PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION; A CASE OF IFTIN PRIMARY SCHOOL, HAGADERA, DADAAB REFUGEE CAMP, GARISSA COUNTY KENYA

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore the influence of social cultural factors on access of primary school education in Dadaab refugee camp. The study was guided by four research objectives. The first objective one sought to assess the influence of domestic chores on access of primary school education in Dadaab refugee camp. Research objective two was to establish the influence of Female Genital Mutilation on access of primary school education in Dadaab refugee camp. The third research objective evaluated the influence of parental attitudes on access of primary school education in Dadaab refugee camp. Research objective four was to determine the influence of early marriages on access of primary school education in Hagadera, Dadaab refugee camp. The study depicts that there are certain minimum requirements or thresholds that are considered essential to be a standard of living, which he terms as psychological or biological such as health clothing, food shelter and sex. This lens depicts the influence of social cultural factors on access of primary school education in Dadaab refugee camp. In this case, a variety of factors were vital in analyzing the extent to which the access of primary school education in Daadab Complex are considered low as girls may successfully complete the primary education (preceding need) and therefore it becomes hard for them to continue unto completion in the succeeding stage (secondary education). The researcher used descriptive survey design. The target population for the study consisted of School Pupils and Teachers. The Study targeted a population of 3,367respondents drawn from pupils at Iftin Primary school and 60 teachers. The study sample size was 6 teachers and 337 pupils. respectively at Iftin Primary school in Hagadera Camp. The researcher used simple random sampling to select 10% of the respondents. Prior to data collection, the pilot exercise on was done to ensure that validity and reliability of the instruments is met. The use of questionnaires and interview schedules formed the main research instruments on the collection of data in the study. The study found out that majority of the respondents indicated that girls were doing most of the domestic work which included cooking 96%, sweeping 83%, caring for the sick 79%, washing clothes 66% the young men did very little other than wash their own clothes. On FGM 61% of the respondents strongly agreeing that FGM had influence on access as it prepared a girl for early marriage.