Perceived Factors Influencing Female Students Completion of Education Programmes in Public Secondary Schools in Rachuonyo North Sub County, Homabay County, Kenya.

Abstract

Education is an essential human right, a gateway to other human rights, and the driving force behind all developments and increased production. Education is a key life process that provides the basis for the future of a girl, as it provides the learner with basic knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will help her cope well in life. This explains why, in comparison to other government sectors, many countries around the world, including Kenya, have increased budgetary allocations for education. However, there is still concern about the number of students who do not attend classes regularly and those who do not finish school or graduate, especially at the secondary level. In Rachuonyo North sub-county, the majority of girls who attend public secondary schools do not complete their education. Despite the Kenyan government's commitment to improving girl-child education, their secondary school completion rate is not 100%. This study set to determine the perceived factors influencing female students’ completion of education programmes in public secondary schools in Rachuonyo North sub county, Homabay County. The study objectives were to determine the extent to which socio-economic factors, cultural factors, awareness of sexual reproductive health education and social networking platforms influence female students’ completion of education programmes in Rachuonyo North Sub County, Homa Bay County. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional survey design to collect information in six selected schools within the Rachuonyo North Sub County. The target population was 1468 female students, 6 head teachers and 59 teachers in all public secondary schools in Rachuonyo North Sub-County giving a total target population of 1533. The sample size for this study was 364 composed of 306 students, 52 teachers and 6 head-teachers. Questionnaires was used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from the target population. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Inc.) was used to produce descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages from quantitative data. The open-ended questionnaire responses was grouped into themes and recorded in narrative form in accordance with the research objectives. The study found that socio-economic and demographic factors variedly influenced female students’ completion of education programs in Rachuonyo North Sub County, Homabay County. The top four leading socio-economic factors that affects female students’ completion of education programs in public secondary schools include income of the parents, parental level of education, low socio-economic status of families and child labor. Main cultural factors affecting completion rate were marriages at an early age, early pregnancies, and boys being viewed as assets of the family. Findings from this study also showed that female students have special sexual and reproductive health needs that remain unmet mainly due to lack of knowledge, social stigma. The study also found out that exposure to social media platforms which leads to irresponsible sexual behavior, chatting online with friends and use of social media platforms by female secondary school students is resulting to mass failure of students in academic achievement. The study found out that there is widening gender gap of both enrolment and completion rate between boys and girls in Rachuonyo North Sub-county. The study recommends that the government put in place interventions and policies to improve the economic status of parents and reduce poverty levels in households, government to strictly enforce policies, strategies, and legislation protecting young girls from early marriages and early pregnancies, Ministry of Education to promote Sexual and Reproductive Health Education in schools and to urgently address the widening gender gap in enrollment and completion between boys and girls by fully enforcing the 100% transition policy. Further research should be undertaken in other counties and including private secondary schools to get a nationally representative finding. Other researchers can also investigate how gender and teaching experience of teachers affect female students’ completion of education programs.