Abstract:
Participation of girls in education seems to be dismal in many parts of the world, and it has become a real concern for many developing countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya included. The dismal level of participation is attributed to the factors that influence girls’ enrollment, retention and completion of education at the secondary school cycle. Girl child education provides benefits to the family and the society at large thus factors influencing it should be addressed for the sake of human and societal development. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of selected cultural practices on girls’ participation in education at secondary school level in Kuria District, Kenya. Specifically the study investigated the influence of female genital mutilation, gender roles, societal attitude and early marriages on girls’ participation in education at the secondary school level. This was considered crucial as Kenya strives to achieve Education for All by 2015. The study utilized descriptive survey design. 320 girls drawn from three public schools specifically forms 2 and 3 participated in the study. Simple random technique was used to select a sample of 175 for the study. A questionnaire based on the objective of the study was used to collect data that was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages), with the aid of the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) for windows version 18. The reliability of the instruments was at 0.77. This was considered an acceptable threshold. The research supervisors of Egerton University established the validity of the instruments before they were administered. The findings of the study revealed that selected cultural practices negatively influence girls’ participation in education at the secondary school level in Kuria district, Kenya. The study challenges members of the community that still value strong retrogressive cultural practices to reconsider their stand. In effect unless these factors are addressed, secondary school education will continue to be disadvantaged in Kenya school system. The study recommended that the Ministry of Education in Kenya should create awareness to all stakeholders on the importance of the girls’ education in the country. It further recommends that a study involving Sub-Saharan African developing nations experiencing low girls’ participation in education at the secondary school level be carried out to corroborate the findings.
