The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of selected school based factors on girls' participation rate in public day secondary schools in Naivasha Sub-County, Kenya. Ex-post facto research design was used in the study. A total of 130 respondents (constituting 26 principals and 104 teachers) from 26 schools were randomly sampled for the study. All the targeted respondents participated in the study giving a response rate of 100%. Simple random sampling technique was used to sample the respondents for the study. Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire where two sets of questionnaires were developed for data collection; one for principals and the other for class teachers. Descriptive statistics such as means, percentages and frequencies were used to analyze the data while inferential statistics such as simple regression analysis was used to determine the predictive power of school based factors on girls' participation in school. The study found that three school-level risk factors that had the most negative impact on girls rate of participation in public day secondary schools in the sub-county were: low sense of belonging among girls to their schools, inadequate counseling of girls in schools and low academic performance. Drawing from the computed R2 value (R2 = .426), the study revealed that the selected school level factors were lowering the rate of girls participation in public day secondary schools by almost 43%. The study concluded that that school level factors such as: low sense of belonging among girls to their schools, inadequate counseling of girls in schools and low academic performance had a negative influence on girls' rate of participation in public day secondary schools in Naivasha Sub-county. It was recommended that public day secondary school educators, specifically principals, counselors and teachers should focus their attention enhancing girls' participation rate in their schools.
Formal education plays a key role in the overall development process in a nation. This view is grounded in the fact that education does not only equip citizens with knowledge and skills but is also a critical tool for imparting values deemed necessary for the growth and development of a nation. Psacharopoulos (
One of the critical determinants of successful growth and development process in a nation is access to quality learning in the lower levels of education system. The lower levels of education in Kenya comprise three sub- systems namely, pre-primary, primary and secondary cycles (
In spite of the immense role that education plays in a nation, it is disheartening to mention that there are gender disparities in favor of boys in regard to access and participation at the basic level of education. The disparity in gender participation in secondary school is in regard to enrolment, retention and completion of secondary school cycle in education where the girls are disadvantaged. Data from WMS III (
Enrolment in Secondary ( Nationally) by Gender 2009 - 2014 in Thousands ('000) and Gender Parity Index
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2009 | 787.9 | 684.7 | 1472.6 | 0.87 |
2010 | 885.5 | 767.8 | 1653.4 | 0.87 |
2011 | 948.7 | 819.0 | 1767.7 | 0.86 |
2012 | 1019.0 | 895.8 | 1914.8 | 0.88 |
2013 | 1127.7 | 976.6 | 2104.3 | 0.87 |
2014 | 1202.3 | 1107.6 | 2331.7 | 0.92 |
Source: Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, 2014
A look at the data presented in table 1 reveals that there was gender enrolment disparity in favour of boys at the secondary education cycle for the period running between 2009 - 2014. There was a similar scenario in Naivasha Sub-county where the study was carried out as shown in table 2.
Table 2:
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2010 | 3177(53.9) | 2764(46.1) | 5891 |
2011 | 3370(53.6) | 2923(46.4) | 6293 |
2012 | 3376(51.9) | 3122(48.1) | 6498 |
2013 | 4449(53.7) | 3840(46.3) | 8289 |
2014 | 5292(50.1) | 5269(49.9) | 10,561 |
2015 | 6032(50.6) | 5883(49.4) | 11,915 |
2016 | 7007(55.8) | 5543(44.2) | 12,550 |
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( Figures in parenthesis represent percentages)
An examination of the summarized data in table 2 demonstrates that there was gender enrolment disparity in favour of boys in Naivasha Sub-county between 2009 and 2016. This implies that, in spite of the introduction of free secondary education in Kenya in 2008, girls’ enrolment in secondary schools in the sub-county is yet to be at par with that of boys. Indeed, the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exit examination candidature, as shown in table 3 clearly shows that boys outnumbered girls for the six years captured in the table.
Number of Students Enrolled for KCSE Examination in Naivasha Sub - County by Gender Between the Year 2011 and 2016
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2011 | 1035( |
995( |
2030 |
2012 | 1151(50.2) | 1143(49.8) | 2294 |
2013 | 1291(52.9) | 1150(47.1) | 2441 |
2014 | 1522(50.2) | 1508(49.8) | 3030 |
2015 | 1785(51.8) | 1659(48.2) | 3444 |
2016 | 1880(50.9) | 1806(49.1) | 3686 |
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There is a need to point out that aggregate candidature in exit examination is a reliable indicator of total student enrolment and successful progression of enrollees up to the terminal grade or class for that matter. In this regard, it can be argued that girl’s enrolment in secondary schools in Naivasha Sub-county has been consistently lower than that of boys. Alternatively, there are chances that girls could be dropping out of secondary schools in the sub-county before reaching the final grade.
Admittedly, women play multiple roles in production and reproduction at the household and societal level (
Drawing from the foregoing statutory provisions, it can rightly be argued that low girls’ participation in secondary education in Kenya limits their full enjoyment of one of the basic human rights. Moreover, differential access (in favour of boys) to secondary education denies the country the expected pay-offs from educated women. For instance, educated women are not only more likely to have fewer children, thereby lowering the socio-economic burdens associated with large families but have also higher chances of availing requisite provisions for their children including quality healthcare and education (
The Government of Kenya has initiated strategies to enhance gender parity in access to secondary education. These strategies among others include, positive discrimination in favour of girls during admission to form one, creation of girls rescue centers in arid regions, provision of sanitary towels to girls in secondary schools in low income regions, campaigns against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and implementation of the “Return to School Policy” for young mothers (
Other factors that have been linked to low girls’ participation in secondary education are those rooted in child’s home environment. For example girls hailing from poor households tend to experience the duo challenges of inadequate supply of personal effect and being forced by parents to argument family resources through engagement in income generating activities like hawking , cleaning utensils in food kiosks, selling fruits and vegetables in market places and babysitting, (
Apart from community and home based factors, existing literature consistently shows that the school environment has a significant share in regard to the global factors attributed to the relatively higher enrolment gap of girls in secondary schools compared to boys. Some of the documented factors include, lack of girl friendly facilities , specifically latrines that can provide some privacy, lack or inadequate provision of sanitary towels and bullying by their male colleagues in co-educational schools (UNESCO, 2003; Girl Child Network, 2008). It has similarly been observed that in a school environment where teachers subscribe to the view that girls are less endowed intellectually, girls may be relegated to the periphery in regard to academic matters at the classroom and school-wide levels. Kendall (
1.1 Statement of the Problem
Secondary school education in Kenya is a basic human right irrespective of a child’s gender. Nonetheless, although the government of Kenya is committed to this philosophy, girl’s enrolment in secondary schools is yet to be at par with that of boys. Documented literature seems to indicate that unfavorable school environment is one of the risk factors that impact negatively on girl’s participation in secondary education. However, the extent to which this factor influences girls’ participation rate in public day secondary schools has not been investigated. To fill the gap that exists in the literature, this study sought to determine the influence of selected school based factors on girls’ participation rate in public day secondary schools in Naivasha Sub-County, Kenya.
This section presents the theories used in the study and the relevant literature on the influence of school based factors on the participation of girls in schools.
2.1 Theoretical Framework
Social learning theory by Bandura was used in the study.
Social Learning Theory
Bandura (
2.7 The Influence of School Based Factors on Girls Participation in Secondary School
These are factors within the school that have a negative impact on girls’ education. They include negative peer pressure, gender stereotyped roles, low academic performance, type of school, teacher biases, availability of sanitary facilities, discrimination by teachers, inadequate teaching learning resources, sexual harassment by male counterparts, among others.
Influence of Negative Peer Pressure
Once students are enrolled in school they interact and form peer groups Wrigley (
Influence of Gender Discrimination against Girls
Brigeon (
A study conducted by Mwandosya (
Curricula and teaching materials remain gender biased to a large degree and are rarely sensitive, to the specific needs of girls and women (
Influence of Gender Stereotyped Roles
Stereotyped roles that make girls easily misused in school include preparing tea and lunch for teachers at break time and lunchtime respectively, washing utensils and fetching water for teachers (
Influence of Academic Performance
Abidha (
Influence of Type of School Curriculum
The type of school can influence the education of the girl-child. Girls in girl’s schools perform better than those in co-educational schools and can excel as well as boys even better (
Influence of Cost of Education
According to World Bank (
Influence of Sexual Harassment
There have been a number of reported cases on teachers harassing female or male students sexually. It is disturbing to realize that the teachers entrusted with the care of children are responsible for impregnating girls. A survey carried in Turkana by Brigeon (
Influence of School Environment
According to MOE (
There are arguments that school environments are at times not conducive to effective learning and this may ultimately lead to underachievement which results in repetition; a precursor for dropout. Arguments against repetition basically stress that repetition h as potentially harmful effects on students’ self-esteem and attributes towards schooling and [this] increases the likelihood of dropping out of school (
The school environment especially the teachers’ attitudes, behaviour and teaching practices have perhaps the most significant implications for female persistence and academic achievement (
Influence of Availability of Sanitary Facilities
Inadequate sanitary facilities such as toilets have the potential to influence girls’ participation in schools (
Influence of Female Teacher Role Models
According to the ministry of education, science and technology (MoEST, 2010), the girl child lacks role models. Statistics from the ministry show that female teachers account for only about 30 per cent of the teaching staff. Most of these are to be found in the urban areas, leaving very few teachers in the rural areas. Remarkable efforts have been made to ensure that every child gets access to quality basic education, but we note that only about ten countries have achieved universal primary education. Although enrolment has increased considerably in many countries, it has not been adequate to accommodate rapid population growth and rural-to-urban migration, thereby giving an impression of being static relative to population size. Early childhood care and education programs are limited to the few in the urban areas. Based on countries' own estimates, between 1990 and 1998, the net enrolment of boys increased by 9 per cent to 56 percent and of girls by 7 per cent to 48 percent in sub-Saharan Africa (
Influence of Infrastructure
The poor infrastructure and un-conducive environment both at home and in school should be addressed with urgency and secondary education be made compulsory to girls. It is from this point of view that Ministry of Education in collaboration with its partner has developed gender policy to address critical issues related to gender and education (
This study was carried out in public secondary schools in Naivasha Sub-county of Nakuru County, Kenya. The population for the study included 28 principals and 112 class teachers in the 28 public secondary schools in Naivasha Sub-county.
This section presents the findings of the study on the influence of selected school based factors on girls’ participation rate in public day secondary schools in Naivasha Sub-County, Kenya.
4.1 School Based factors and Girls’ Participation Rate in Secondary Schools
Respondents’ mean scores on perceived influence of school based factors on girls’ participation is summarized in table 4.
Influence of School Based Factors on Girls Participation in Secondary School Education
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Teacher biases towards girls | 2.19 |
Inadequate girl friendly sanitary facilities in schools | 3.44 |
Inadequate girl focused guidance and counseling services | 3.11 |
Inadequate female teacher role models | 3.05 |
Incidences of girl harassment by male student | 2.53 |
Low level of academic performance by girls | 3.48 |
Negative influence of peer pressure among girls | 3.80 |
Perceived low sense of belonging to the school | 3.70 |
Perceived insecurity in school among girls | 2.50 |
Unfriendly attitude towards girls by teachers | 2.20 |
Overall mean score | 3.01 |
A look at the data captured in table 4 clearly shows that the combined negative effect of the selected school factors (mean = 3012) on girls participation rate in secondary schools in the study area was high (see table 4) It is also evident from the table that the three factors that had the highest negative effect on the rate of girls’ participation in secondary schools were perceived low sense of belonging by girls to their respective schools (mean 370), low academic performance among girls (mean =348) and inadequate counseling of girls in schools (mean = 311) The three school factors that had minimal impact on girls rate of school participation were teachers biases towards girls (mean = 219), unfriendly attitude towards girls by teachers (mean = 220) and perceived insecurity in schools (mean – 250)
4.2 Predictive Capacity of School Factors on Girls Rate of Participation in Secondary Schools
The purpose of the study was to find out whether the selected school based factors have any influence on girls’ rate of participation in public day secondary schools in the study area. To realize the purpose of the study, null hypothesis was formulated as follows:
HO1: School based factors have no statistically significant influence on girls’ participation rate in public day secondary schools in Naivasha Sub-County, Kenya
The hypothesis presumed that school based factors have no statistically significant influence on girls participation rate in public day secondary schools in the study area.
In order to ascertain the truth of this assumption, scores generated from the likert items in principals’ questionnaire were subjected to simple regression analysis. The results of simple regression analysis are summarized in table 5.
Regression Analysis Summary between School Factors and Girls’ Participation Rate in Public Day Secondary Schools
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Dependent | Girls’ participation rate in public day secondary schools | .515 | .426 | 93 | 5.247 | .000* |
Independent | Selected home factors | Beta (β) | t | .000* | ||
-.614 | -5.247 |
*Significant .05 alpha level
It is notable from the summarized data in table 5 that the computed F-ratio was statistically significant (F=5.247, P<.05). This implies that there was a statistically significant linear relationship between the selected school factors and girls participation rate in public day secondary schools in the study area. Further perusal of the data reveals that the generated beta value (β= -.614) was not only negative but also statistically significant (t = -5.247; p, .05). The calculated R
Based on the foregoing findings, the null hypothesis (
4.3 Principals’ Suggestions for Mitigating School Level Risk Factors to Girls’ Participation in Public Day Secondary Schools
Principals were asked to give suggestions on the ways of mitigating the influence of school level risks on the participation of girls in public secondary schools in Naivasha sub-county. The suggestions given were as summarized on table 6 below.
Principals’ Suggestions for Mitigating School Level Risk Factors to Girls’ Participation in Public-Day Secondary Schools
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Educate parents and guardians on the need to support girl child education | 2 | 8 |
School managers to create child friendly environment in schools | 3 | 12 |
NGO’s to sponsor schooling of needy girls | 2 | 8 |
Improve guidance and counseling services in schools | 4 | 15 |
Government to increase funding of education | 11 | 42 |
Setting up boarding facility for girls | 4 | 15 |
Source; Field data (2015
An inspection of the data presented in table 6 shows that the suggestion that east endorsed by the highest proportion of principal (42%) in regard to addressing school level risk factors to girls participation in public –day secondary schools in the study area was the need to increase the level of government capitation in day secondary schools. The other suggestions that were supported by a sizeable proportion of respondents were the need to increase boarding facilities for girls and upgrading of guidance and counseling services in schools both of which were endorsed by 15% of the respondents. The least cited suggestions (8% in each case) were the need to sensitize parents and guardians on their obligations in girl child education and support for girl child education by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
The study found that three school-level risk factors that had the most negative impact on girls rate of participation in public day secondary schools in the sub-county were: low sense of belonging among girls to their schools, inadequate counseling of girls in schools and low academic performance. Drawing from the computed R
The study concluded that that school level factors such as: low sense of belonging among girls to their schools, inadequate counseling of girls in schools and low academic performance had a negative influence on girls’ rate of participation in public day secondary schools in Naivasha Sub-county.
The study recommended that public day secondary school educators, specifically principals, counselors and teachers should focus their attention enhancing girls’ participation rate in their schools. For instance, girls must be motivated to love their schools through counseling so as to perceive themselves as important members of the school community. It was also recommended that teacher counselors should develop girl-focused counseling programmes whose major goal should be to enhance self-confidence and self-efficacy among girls. It was finally recommended that teachers should consistently expose girls to the array of opportunities available for educated women within and outside Kenya. With this kind of information, girls in public day secondary school are not only less likely to miss school but may also aspire to achieve in the academics