Influence of Socio-Cultural Practices on the Retention of Girls in Secondary Schools in Baringo County, Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70619/vol6iss5pp38-49-879Keywords:
Socio-Cultural Practices, Retention of Girls in Secondary Schools, BaringoAbstract
The purpose of the study is to identify socio-cultural practices that affect girls' retention in secondary schools in Baringo. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The study targeted 46 girls and mixed secondary schools located in Tiaty West sub-county. The study used a simple random sampling method to select a sample of 14 secondary schools, stratified into 5 boarding, 5 mixed, and 4-day secondary schools. The sample size comprised 355 female students. They were issued with a questionnaire. The study conducted a pilot study in 2 secondary schools in Tiaty East Subcounty, Kenya. They included AIC Churo Girls High School and Tangulbei Mixed Secondary School. In the current study, Cronbach's alpha was used to test reliability. The questionnaire data were analyzed by sorting out incomplete questionnaires, and the data were entered into SPSS version 27 for descriptive and correlation analysis (Pearson Correlation). The descriptive statistics analyzed included frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations. The results indicated that socio-cultural practices had a significant effect on girls' retention in secondary schools. On the one hand, the study found that supportive socio-cultural practices, which included role modeling, awareness programs, and motivation, improved girls' retention in secondary schools. On the other hand, negative socio-cultural practices like household workload, GBV, early marriages, and inadequate guidance by parents limited the retention of girls in secondary schools. It was concluded that both supportive and restrictive socio-cultural practices were present, with each of them affecting the retention of girls differently. However, restrictive socio-cultural practices that advocate for traditional systems were expressed through huge workloads, GBV, forced early marriages, and inadequate guidance from parents, limiting girls from remaining in secondary schools. The Ministry of Education is recommended to establish stern actions against communities found to have practiced retrogressive socio-cultural practices such as early marriages, FGM, and GBV, among other vices that would keep girls away from school.
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