Influence Of Female Genital Mutilation on Girls’ Transition from Primary to Secondary Schools in Narok South Sub-County, Narok County, Kenya

Abstract

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) goal two requires that all children complete full course of primary education and transit to secondary education. Education for All initiatives also stresses the emphasis for all children to be educated at all levels. Having clear guidelines on how female pupils can be retained in school and henceforth transit to secondary schools is, therefore, needful. Nevertheless, public primary schools have continued to report low transition rates (40%) of girls from primary to secondary. The purpose of this study was to find out the influence of Female Genital Mutilation on girls’ transition from primary to secondary schools in Narok South Sub-County, Kenya. The objectives included: assessing the influence of Female Genital Mutilation on girls’ academic performance, girls’ dropout rate and girls’ absenteeism. The liberal feminism theory guided the study. The study employed a descriptive survey research design. The schools in Narok South Sub-County are 179 and the units of analysis comprised of head-teachers, teachers and female pupils in public primary schools in Narok South Sub-County. The target population henceforth constituted of 179 head-teachers, 1,288 teachers and 6,998 girls, corresponding to 8,736 target respondents. Proportionate stratified sampling and simple random sampling techniques were used to select participating teachers and female pupils while purposive sampling to get the head-teachers. By using Krejcie and Morgan 1970 table; 118 head-teachers, 291 teachers and 361 girls were sampled, leading to an overall sample size of 770. Focus group discussions were carried out with head-teachers while teachers and female pupils answered questionnaires. Reliability of the instruments was determined using Cronbach alpha coefficient where a threshold of 0.7 was used to access reliability and validity; by checking contents, face and construct validity. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS for both descriptive and inferential statistics and was presented using tables and figures. The qualitative data was analyzed thematically. Ethical considerations on privacy, confidentiality, voluntary participation, anonymity and acknowledging the sources that informed the study were abide by. The study confirmed that FGM practices negatively affected girls’ transition to secondary schools. This was evidenced by poor academic performance, high drop-out cases, high absenteeism resulting from early marriages, teenage pregnancies, hemorrhage, prolonged healing process, psychosocial effects, psychological impacts, learner isolation, indiscipline and unsupportive school environment. The research recommends the ministry of education to prioritize funding for anti-FGM campaigns, sanitary kits, building boarding facilities and girl conducive toiletries to address absenteeism and drop-out. The ministry of education should come up with back-to-school policies after FGM, early absenteeism detection guidelines and curriculum guidelines showcasing teachers training on effective gender responsive pedagogies. The ministry of education needs to invest in guidance and counselling facilities and resources to develop a supportive school environment and manage psychosocial effects of FGM. Findings have implications on curriculum review to include gender base pedagogy and funding increment to cater for, infrastructure, training and professional development.