Factors contributing to girls’ dropout in rural primary schools: the case study of Morogoro district
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Date
2009
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
The government of Tanzania formulated different educational programmes in order to
improve the quality of primary education and ensure that every citizen gets primary
education. Such programmes were UPE in 1970s and PEDP in 2001. Both programmes
brought impressive results in education sector because the quality of basic education was
improved and enrollment rate increased to 97% countrywide. Despite the above mentioned
achievements, findings from different studies reveal (hat girls' dropout continues to take
place in both urban and rural primary schools. For example, in 2005, girls' dropout rate
was more than 35% countrywide and in 2006 dropout rate reached 62.3% in Morogoro
District. In addition, a large number of girls fail to complete primary education in rural
areas. This study examined factors contributing to girls' dropout in rural primary schools.
Morogoro District was taken as a case study. The study was conducted in Mikese, Kiroka.
Mkambarani and Kinole wards. Simple random sampling was used to select the four
wards. The study involved 100 girls who dropped from primary schools and snow ball
sampling procedure was employed to select them. Purposive sampling procedure was
applied to select pupils for FGD and key informants, namely: parents, teachers.
governmental officials and political leaders because with purposive sampling, the study is
likely to get actual information from target population. Key informants discussion, Focus
Group Discussion and secondary sources were used to gather supplementary information.
The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze data and the
results revealed that girls’ dropout in rural primary schools were caused by income
poverty at household level, child labour, teenage pregnancy, early marriage, loss of
parents and biological and social changes occurring during adolescence and puberty
periods, The study, therefore, recommends that the government especially the responsible
ministries should work with other stakeholders Including NGOs, CBOs, FBOs and the community in fighting and eliminating all undesirable cultural practices like early
marriage in order to support girls’ education. Moreover, the study also recommends that,
the government should review The Law Marriage Act of 1971 so as to stop pre - mature
marriages and create conducive environment for girls to study and complete primary
education successfully.
Description
Dissertation
Keywords
Girls’ school dropout, Rural primary schools, Girls’ education, Early marriage, Teenage pregnancy