A study on the causes and effects of girl child school dropout: case study of Sheema District

Abstract

Though many researchers have been concerned with school dropout issue for both girls and boys, dropout pattern significantly differs by the gender of the students. This study clarifies the factors that contribute to the increasing dropout rate of children, particularly among girls by interviewing research participants and making a detailed review of available literature. Most past researches and reviews on the school dropout issue have been carried out regardless of the gender of the students. Particular secondary schools were interviewed in the western region in Sheema and the results obtained were the basis on the conclusion of the school dropout rates in the region. The results obtained were taken from a sample of selected households made by a researcher in western region of Uganda. Out of a sample of 63 households that were selected and various factors such as demographic, socio- economic, cultural among others, it was observed that the highest case of school dropout was concerned with demographic factors such as gender and age from 12 years to 21 years of age which brought about a large number of girl child dropout. Dropout was mainly seen among the girls due to age as they were expected to be out of school and engage into marital activities, In addition to that girls weren’t expected to study and as such education was not seen as crucial to girls making dropout at any point in time as it was considered useless and this was also mainly due to the cultural beliefs in some families. However dropout rates are associated with boys too due to orphan hood in families, poverty status which is 75 percent among families in Sheema District. The fact that school dropout was also evidenced in rural areas where the population was most concentrated of over 80 percent of students, urbanization and setting up of more institutions should be put in place. In addition to that sensitization should be made in families with strong cultural beliefs to enable same education for both the girls and the boys in the community.