Joseph Mogoba Kiage, Enose M.W. Simatwa, T.M.O. Ayodo
In 2008 the government of Kenya started offering free tuition secondary education in all public secondary schools to ease parental burden and improve on quality of education. In boarding schools the situation did not become any better as parents were still to provide the boarding facilities and other necessities. The beneficiaries of education in boarding schools who could not meet the socioeconomic demands did drop out of schools leading to decline in enrolments. The average cost of educating a girl in a boarding school in forms one to three was Kshs. 39,056 while the cost of educating a girl in boarding school in form four was Kshs. 55,140. The subsidy of Kshs 10,265 only caters for 19 percent of the total cost of educating a girl in boarding school. Lack of boarding fees and other school levies contributed to decline in enrolment of girls in boarding schools. Other socioeconomic factors which influenced decline in enrolment of girls in boarding schools were: traditional cultural practices like female genital mutilation, early marriages, teenage pregnancies and preference to educate boys to the exclusion of girls. Poor school cultures like forced repetition, unattractive school diets and poor school Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examinations results affected enrolment in schools. Failure to implement government policies such as re-admission of teenage mothers to school, providing the needy girls with enough bursaries, stopping early marriages and discrimination of girls in the provision of education influenced decline of girls’ enrolment in boarding schools. The study recommended that the government should increase the amount of money for each girl in boarding secondary schools. The government should consider paying mock and Kenya Certificate of Secondary examination fee for girls in form four. The government and its agencies, the Nongovernmental organizations, politicians, parents, community leaders, schools and tertiary institutions should encourage the pastoral communities to shun their cultural practices which reduce the enrollment of girls in boarding secondary schools.
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