Influence of Patriarchal Culture and Early marriage on Learner Academic Progression of Public Secondary School Students in Lagdera Sub-County, Kenya.
- March 17, 2022
- Posted by: rsispostadmin
- Categories: Education, IJRSI
International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume IX, Issue II, February 2022 | ISSN 2321–2705
Phyllice Barasa
Moi University, Kenya
Abstract
Education is an important priority for any country and it remains a very basic right that every child needs to get since it plays an outstanding role in the development of any country. However, academic progression in public secondary schools especially in the North Eastern parts of Kenya has consistently remained low over the years despite subsidized education. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate the influence of patriarchal culture and early marriage on learner academic progression in public secondary schools in Lagdera sub county in Garissa County in Kenya. The study embraced a descriptive survey research design. Purposive sampling was used to sample 301 respondents. Data was collected by use of questionnaires. The expected findings of this study may be significant by providing greater insight to the administrators and managers of schools into the factors that contribute to low academic progression among secondary school students in Lagdera sub county and also may serve as a reference point for education administrators to raise awareness and concern among parents teachers and students in partnership to solve the problem of dropout thus helping the ministry of education to reduce education resource wastage by monitoring learner progression at all levels.
Key words: Patriarchal Culture; Academic Progression
Introduction
Patriarchy is a social system in which the father or the male is the head of the household having authority over women and children (Karmanae, 1992). The Somali are known to be a patriarchal society hence men make rules and dominate business and government as the woman main value is to support a man (behind a good man is a woman), bear children and housekeeping duties. UNICEF (2001) revealed that most pupils who enter primary school 48% of boys and only 29% of girls complete the cycle. As a result, girls are educated to know how to read and write and to be better mothers rather than for employment while boys are educated to get employment. In India, the birth of a girl is seen as an occasion of heartbroken sorrow and despair even in relatively affluent and educated families. A girl is seen as a burden given the fact that she will get married elsewhere and leave her natal family. On the other hand, a male child is more likely to gain full education, gain employment and pursue a working life intending to marry later. The women in India are deliberately denied the opportunities for growth in the name of religion and sociocultural practice.
Northeastern province is largely composed of Somalis who are a patriarchal society as result accord women and girls’ lower status. The society generally views girls to belong to other people and thus source of investment to the family hence are ‘married off” before they get spoilt. According to Wanjiru (2007) girls are socialized to know that their brothers’ education is more important than theirs hence very ready to drop out of school for the sake of their brothers. According to Mbatia (2005), the enrolment of boys in ASAL areas was higher than that of girls throughout the years covered by the study, education of sons is considered an investment and security for old age. This emphasizes the importance of educating boys.
Despite having an advantage in terms of access to education over girls the boys still face challenges in education in addition to their schoolwork, boys also have to help their parents with fencing and help in branding livestock during market days (Khalif, 2008). Noor (2003) notes that in Mandera district, distance between home and school is a major problem to girls since many parents do not allow their daughters to walk alone as a result they are kept out of school unless there is somebody preferably an elder brother to accompany her in school. This decision usually bounds to affect the girl child in her academics in schools.
