| dc.description.abstract | Girl child education has been a major concern in the development discourse. This study
was carried out to assess the causes and consequences of girl child drop out in acquiring
basic education. The study was carried out in selected primary schools in Nyakyera Sub
County in Ntugamo district. It was carried out with three major objectives namely; to
establish factors that influence the retention of the girl child in School, to find out the
packages put in place to ensure retention of girl children in school and to assess the
challenges resulting from girl child drop out of school at an early age in Nyakyera Sub county.
A case study research design was used. The study was largely qualitative in nature.
Various categories of respondents including pupils both girls and boys, parents, head
teachers, members of Parents and Teachers Associations (PTA), children who dropped
out of school and Local Council officials were studied to get a range of views regarding
girl child drop out in primary schools. The study was analyzed qualitatively and
presented in themes according to the study objectives.
The study found out that the rate of girl child drop out in primary schools was higher than
boys in all selected schools. Study findings indicate that girl child drop out in primary
schools in still a menace most especially in rural areas. The causes of girl child dropout
are multifaceted. Household poverty is the major cause girl child drop in primary schools
at the household level. At the community level, girl drop out is largely as a result of
engagement in community work while at the school level, the school costs are the leading
cause of girl child drop out. This shows that girls are still denied their right to education
which is a fundamental right as described in the United Nations Declaration of Human
Rights of 1948.
Therefore, the study recommends that interventions to address the challenge have to
tackle the problem from the three angles of the household, the school and the community.
The school environment must be safe for both girls and boys and allow the student to
attend school free of the fear of mental, physical, emotional or sexual abuse. It should
address both the physical and psycho-social wellbeing of the child both girls and boys.
There is need for community partnerships. Primary schools should develop strong ties to
the community and use those links to ensure that all school aged children in the
community are reached and enrolled in school. This partnership can as well help to
protect girls from risks like defilement and child labor. Development agencies should
integrate concerns about children’s rights, protection of the girl child from gender
specific discrimination, child labor and other forms of gender specific exploitation of
children into the design and implementation of projects and programmes, and empower
households to improve on their income to meet educational needs of their children both
girls and boys. | en_US |
