One of the objectives of this study was to investigate some barriers that render access to education for girls. In order to respond to this objective, the boys and girls were requested to rank factors that were thought to deny them access to education. Five point scale was used to rank the barriers, ranging from most important (1) to not important at all (5). Using SPSS++ software, mean scores were calculated and used to rank the barriers among boys and girls within each category of schools as well as across the three categories as shown in the Table 29.
4.9.1 Ranking of Barriers in the Urban Schools
Data for Urban schools indicate that the poor quality of school was ranked first. This indicates that this barrier is considered as important by both boys and girls in these schools. Care of animals was ranked second by girls and third by boys.
Table 4.27: Ranking of Barriers by Girls and Boys in Urban Ecologies
Barriers Score Girls Boys
Min Max N Mean Rank N Mean Rank
Quality of school 1 5 39 2.3 1 46 2.5 1 Care of animals 1 5 41 2.5 2 33 3.5 3 Sexual harassment 1 5 41 2.9 3 49 3.0 2 Home chores 1 5 44 2.9 4 35 3.7 6 Nomadic life 1 5 41 3.0 5 49 4.0 7 Distance to school 1 5 34 3.4 6 41 4.3 9 Poor quality teachers 1 5 40 3.7 7 46 3.6 4 Poverty 1 5 39 3.9 8 47 3.6 5
The culture of rites
of Passage 1 5 36 4.4 9 45 4.2 8
Source: Research Data, (2012)
The third barrier investigated was sexual harassment. This barrier is ranked third by girls and second by boys. Homes chores follows as was ranked fourth for girls and six by boys. Nomadic life scored fifth for girls and seven for boys. The barriers seemed to affect boys more than girls. Distance to school being long was ranked sixth by girls and ninth by boys. Poor quality of teachers was ranked seventh by girls and fourth by boys. This barrier affects girls more than boys. Poverty in the family was ranked eight by girls and sixth by boys. Female Genital Mutilation/circumcision was ranked ninth by girls and eighth by boys.
4.9.2 Ranking of Barriers in Semi Urban Schools
The data showed that poverty in the family was ranked first for both boys and girls. The culture Rites of Passage (FGM) was ranked second by girls and third by boys. Home chores were ranked third by girls and fourth by boys. The barrier seems to affect both boys and girls equally. Distance to school being too long was ranked fourth by girls and fifth by boys. The problem seemed to affect girls than boys. Poor
quality teachers were ranked fifth by girls and second by boys. This barrier affects boys more than girls.
Table 4.28: Ranking of Barriers by Girls and Boys in Semi Urban schools
Barriers Score Girls Boys
Min Max N Mean Rank N Mean Rank
Poverty 1 5 192 2.8 1 72 2.4 1 Rites of passage 1 5 184 2.9 2 71 3.7 3 Home chores 1 5 194 3.3 3 75 3.9 4 Distance to school 1 5 157 3.5 4 60 3.9 5 Quality teachers 1 5 179 3.6 5 70 3.2 2 Care of animals 1 5 184 3.8 6 68 3.9 6 Sexual harassment 1 5 177 3.9 7 67 4.4 9 Quality of school 1 5 176 3.9 8 73 4.1 8 Nomadic life 1 5 178 4.1 9 67 4.0 7
Source: Research Data, (2012)
Care of animal is another barrier ranked sixth by both girls and boys. This seem to be a common barrier to both girls and boys as it affects them equally. Poor quality of school is another barrier which was ranked eighth by both girls and boys, thus showing that they are equally affected by this barrier. Nomadic life was ranked ninth by girls and seventh by the boys in this category. It seems in this category nomadic life strongly affects both boys and girls but more on boys.
4.9.3 Ranking of Barriers in Rural Schools
The ranking in category three indicate that, both girls and boys ranked Poverty in the family first. This shows that the barrier is significant to both genders. Table 31 shows that culture was ranked second by girls and sixth by boys. These barriers seem to affect girls more than boys. Distance to school being too long was ranked fourth by girls and seventh by boys. The barrier seems significant to girls as compared to boys. Table 30 gives the reality on the issues.
Table 4.29: Ranking of Barriers by Girls and Boys in Rural Schools
Barriers Score Girls Boys
Min Max N Mean Rank N Mean Rank
Poverty 1 5 125 2.6 1 112 2.0 1 Rites of Passage 1 5 115 2.7 2 105 3.3 6 Home chores 1 5 127 3.0 3 107 3.2 4 Distance to school 1 5 119 3.1 4 111 3.3 7 Quality teachers 1 5 116 3.2 5 103 3.3 5 Sexual harassment 1 5 107 3.2 6 90 3.7 9 Nomadic life 1 5 111 3.5 7 110 3.1 3 Quality of school 1 5 111 3.6 8 101 3.5 8 Care of animals 1 5 114 3.9 9 111 3.0 2
Source: Research Data, (2012)
Poor quality of teachers was ranked fifth by both girls and boys. This barrier seem to affect both girls and boys equally. Sexual harassment was ranked sixth by girls and ninth by boys. Nomadic life was ranked seventh by girls compared to boys. “Quality of school is poor” was ranked eighth by both girls and boys. The score ranking indicates that in this category. The last barrier is care of animals which was ranked highest for boys and very low for girls, girls ranking score is ninth, this indicates that for girls in the rural category, care of animals is the not a strong barrier as compared to boys.
4.9.4 Ranking of Barriers in All Schools in the Study
The overall ranking for the barriers to education in all three categories showed that poverty in the family was ranked first by both girls and boys. Table 32 shows the reality culture was ranked second and seven for boys and girls respectively. Home chores was ranked third by girls and fifth by boys. Table 31 gives shows the facts. Table 32 shows clearly that the strongest three barriers to education of girls are poverty, Rites of Passage and home chores. For boys, the three strongest barriers are poverty in the family, poor quality of teachers and care of animals. The common
barriers for both girls and boys are poverty in the family, poor quality of teachers and home chores.
Table 4.30: Ranking of Barriers by Girls and Boys in the Schools Studied in Three Categories
Ranking for girls Ranking for Boys
Barriers N Mean Rank N Mean Rank
Poverty 265 2.94 1 231 2.45 1 Rites of Passage 250 3.10 2 221 3.61 7 Home chores 273 3.30 3 217 3.51 5 Quality teachers 250 3.58 4 219 3.33 2 Care of animals 255 3.59 5 212 3.36 3 Distance to school 217 3.59 6 210 3.61 8 Quality of school 244 3.73 7 220 3.46 4 Sexual harassment 245 3.76 8 206 3.74 9 Nomadic life 249 3.77 9 226 3.58 6
Source: Research Data, (2012) 4.10 Chapter Summary
The parent’s background was investigated to know the type of life students lead at home before going to school. In the whole process, the specific objectives for the study were analyzed and investigated. The objectives centered on enrolment, retention and completion, pass rates and selection, the importance of education as perceived by both students and the community and lastly, the barriers which hinder or constrain girls from registering and remaining in school. The study results clearly indicate that the highest barriers to girls by rank include poverty, rites of passage and home chores. For boys, the highest barriers by rank are poverty, poor quality of teachers and care of animals. Chapter five will discuss findings presented in chapter four.
CHAPTER FIVE