Monday, December 7, 2015

'He is the one who is providing you with everything so whatever he says is what you do': A Qualitative Study on Factors Affecting Secondary Schoolgirls’ Dropout in Rural Western Kenya

Education is an effective way to improve girls’ self-worth, health, and productivity; however there remains a gender gap between girls’ and boys’ completion of school. The literature around factors influencing girls’ decision to stay in school is limited. Seven focus group discussions took place among 79 girls in forms 2 to 4 at secondary schools in rural western Kenya, to examine their views on why girls absent themselves or dropout from school. Data were analysed thematically. 

Lack of resources, sexual relationships with boyfriends, and menstrual care problems were reported to lead directly to dropout or school absence. These were tied to girls increased vulnerability to pregnancy, poor performance in school, and punishments, which further increase school absence and risk of dropout. Poverty, unmet essential needs, coercive sexual relationships, and an inequitable school environment collude to counter girls’ resolve to complete their schooling. 

Lack of resources drive girls to have sex with boyfriends or men who provide them with essentials their family cannot afford, such as sanitary pads and transport to school. While these improve quality of their school life, this dynamic increases their exposure to sexual risk, pregnancy, punishment, and dropout. Evaluation of interventions to ameliorate these challenges is warranted, including provision of pocket money to address their needs.

...Poverty was a constant underlying element in girls’ narratives [11], and responsible either directly or indirectly for the greater proportion of absenteeism or dropout. Lack of cash for fees or personal needs was noted as a main factor directly leading to dropout. Although the Kenyan government extended free education from primary into secondary schools in 2008, girls’ narratives describing ‘school fees’ drove us to examine what comprised ‘fees’ in the area since tuition fees were already paid. Schools provided us with standard invoices per student; these included PTA / development levies, and fees for lunch, exams, activities, PE, district evaluation, and ICT maintenance. Adding further costs for uniforms and books, we estimate around Ksh 20,000 (~£126) is required per girl each year. A separate study suggested these additional costs amount to 55% of the average rural households’ annual per capita expenditure [13]. Should such fees be afforded for a girl (assuming no competing male sibling), any further personal items required by girls would be beyond the reach of many families who have a mean wealth index of ~£426 [33]. We noted two-thirds of the annual fees are requested in the first school term. Girls’ dropout over the year thus occurs after the bulk of fees are paid, with a lack of smaller sums of money acting as a barrier to completion.

Girls in our study describe many items they need that are beyond the household budget. Top among these were sanitary pads for menstrual care. The reporting of menstrual care problems in school was very common in the present study, with girls discussing this as a main cause of school absence, and some considering repeated absence resulted in eventual dropout. Teasing and public humiliation, discomfort from poor quality sanitary items, and poor engagement due to fear of leakage and odour are well described in the literature [20,21,34]. Sanitary pads are a frequently cited item girls say they need, but parents’ budgets seldom stretch to provide the quality or amount required. Girls’ narratives indicate some boyfriends provide pads directly, while other girls request money from sexual partners to buy pads. In a study among girls and women below 30 years of age in the same area, half said they received commercial pads from a sexual partner [35]. While sex for money in order to purchase pads was seldom recorded (~3% among young single females), it was reported among 10% of 15 year olds. It was significantly higher among girls dependent on family for source of income, and among girls reporting two or more sexual partners in the past 12 months [35]. Removing menstrual need as a burden for schoolgirls would improve their dignity, engagement in school, and potentially improve their performance. It would also reduce one reason for dependence on sexual partners, and could contribute to reducing their exposure to sexual and reproductive harms, and possible school dropout.

Along with menstrual items, a variety of relatively low budget items such as face cream, body oil, panties, sodas, and snacks were also seen as necessary items for girls to have. Having a boyfriend was considered essential, as boys (and men) buy them or provide money for these needs. A strong literature exists on procurement of socially desirable items from sexual partners in impoverished communities [3638], with a particular focus around implications for HIV risk for young females [39,40]...

Full article at:  http://goo.gl/iolCfQ

By:  
Kelvin Oruko, Elizabeth Nyothach, John Vulule, Penelope A. Phillips-Howard
Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Center for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya

Emily Zielinski-Gutierrez, Kayla F. Laserson
Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States of America

Linda Mason, Kelly Alexander, Penelope A. Phillips-Howard
Department of Clinical Studies, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom




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