Socio-cultural factors affecting girl child secondary education in Kotido district, Karamoja sub region, Uganda

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the socio-cultural factors affecting the secondary education of the girl child in Kotido district. The study examined the cultural practices, beliefs, gender norms and beliefs affecting the education of the girl child in secondary schools in Kotido District. The study adopted a multiple case study design in which four secondary schools in Kotido were visited and data was collected using mainly qualitative methods. Kotido district was chosen as a case study because of the high socio-cultural challenges girls in the district face to access secondary education, despite the interventions of the Government and development partners. Data analysis was done thematically, and inductively through themes drawn from the transcripts of the interviews. The study findings revealed that cultural practices such as circumcision, teenage pregnancies and early marriages affect girls’ ability to attain secondary education, and to attend class. The findings further show that cultural beliefs and gender stereotypes such as girls not being good in sciences, technology and mathematics, trusting boys more than girls when it comes to the sustainability of a home and clan, also hamper girls’ ability to access secondary education. Cultural norms such as girls staying at home to help their mothers, and prioritizing the education of the boy child as opposed to the girls also prevent girls from benefitting from secondary education by keeping them at home while some boys get post-primary education. The study recommends that parents of girls in Kotido district, girls and boys and other stakeholders such as teachers and community leaders should be sensitized about the negative cultural practices, beliefs and norms that discriminate girls and deny them access to secondary education. Parents and the girls themselves need to be sensitized on the benefits that secondary education brings for the girl child and that education for girls is a fundamental human right. The government and other stakeholders should also empower the mothers and fathers (parents) economically to be able to provide school needs and pay fees for their girls to attend secondary school.