Assessing factors contributing to school dropout among girls in Oyam District: a case study of Aboke Subcounty

Abstract

In Uganda, school dropout among girls is one of the major challenges the country has been facing for a long time. This study was meant to find out the factors contributing to school dropout among girls focusing on the social economic, household, school level and cultural factors. This was a cross sectional study based on quantitative data collected from form 200 girls in four villages of Abok subcounty, A binary logistic regression model was used to find out the contribution of the social economic, household, school level and cultural factors contributing to school dropout among girls and the odd ratios and significance were reported.

The results of the study indicated that school girls who paid school fees of more than 100,000 UGX were 8 times more likely to drop out of school compared to those who paid below 100,000 UGX. In addition to that, girls who went to schools with limited feminine facilities such as toilets were 2 times more likely to drop out of school compare to those who went to schools with enough feminine facilities, this was attributed to low confidence in girls, low esteem and poor concentration. Furthermore, girls who walked more than 11 kilometers to school were 5 times more likely to drop out of school compared to those who walked between 6 kilometers to 10 kilometers and finally School girls who got pregnant were 12 times more likely to drop out of school compared to those who did not get pregnant, it was intervened by low academic performance and less concentration attributing to school dropout.

This study therefore recommends enforcing school programs such sex education, self-worth, character and recreational activities to reduce pregnancy in school, creating an healthy and safe environment for girls to study including enough feminine facilities as this provides confidence, increases self-esteem of girls enabling them to study with freedom among their male peers promoting healthy competition, The government should build more schools and provide enough support to encourage enrollment and retention of girls in school to reduce the risk of girls walking long distances to schools, which exposes them to risks that may lead to school dropout. In conclusion, the factors contributing to school dropout in Oyam district include; schooling costs, feminine facilities in school pregnancy and school distance.