Retention of Girls at Primary School in the Busolwe Sub-County Butaleja District, Eastern Uganda Hadoto Ida Josephine Mikisa Clemson University, [email protected]
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Clemson University TigerPrints All Dissertations Dissertations May 2019 Retention of Girls at Primary School in the Busolwe Sub-County Butaleja District, Eastern Uganda Hadoto Ida Josephine Mikisa Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations Recommended Citation Mikisa, Hadoto Ida Josephine, "Retention of Girls at Primary School in the Busolwe Sub-County Butaleja District, Eastern Uganda" (2019). All Dissertations. 2327. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/2327 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RETENTION OF GIRLS AT PRIMARY SCHOOL IN THE BUSOLWE SUB-COUNTY, BUTALEJA DISTRICT, EASTERN UGANDA A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy International Family and Community Studies by Hadoto Ida Josephine Mikisa May 2019 Accepted by: Dr. Natallia Sianko, Committee Chair Dr. Bonnie Holaday, Co-Chair Dr. Arelis Moore de Peralta Dr. Kenneth Robinson ABSTRACT Globally, many professionals are concerned about primary school dropouts. Especially alarming is that girls drop out at higher rates in comparison with boys. Although this problem affects many girls, girls in specific areas are at a greater risk of not completing primary school education. Additionally, although researchers identified various micro- and macro-level factors that relate to school dropout, research is lacking on local conditions that shape the education trajectory among girls in specific areas. Given the unique context and the lack of research assessing factors associated with dropout in separate districts in Uganda, the primary objective of this exploratory investigation was to identify factors most associated with primary school dropout in the Busolwe sub-county, Butaleja district of Eastern Uganda, including: (1) internal factors (perceived self-efficacy motivation to go to school, and perception of gender equality ); (2) family environment (household chores, perceived parental attitude toward education, and adolescents’ perceptions of parents’ ability to meet family needs); and (3) school environment (school infrastructure, and perceived teacher support, and safety at school. Descriptive analysis established the major contributing factors to girls’ dropping out could be grouped into three categories—girls’ internal characteristics, family environment, and school environment. A series of binomial logistic regression analyses established that girls’ internal characteristics – motivation and perceived gender equality; family environment –perceived parental attitude to girls’ education, perceived parental ability to provide for the family, and staying home to do household chores instead of going to school were significantly associated with girls’ dropping out of school. Future strategies and policies should focus on addressing parental attitudes and incomes and girls’ internal characteristics, such as motivation and gender equality perceptions. ii DEDICATION I dedicate my dissertation to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords who made it possible for me to get this far. Only you God know what we have been through together. I dedicate my work to my grandparents Lydia and Yosia who showed me how wonderful it is to walk as a Christian. I dedicate my work to my parents who nurtured me, loved me, cared for me, and encouraged me to achieve and never to give up. Thank you, Mum and Dad, for your love, guidance, and discipline. I dedicate my work to my family whose financial and moral support have enabled me to come this far. Your love and the way you relate to me have always increased my self-esteem, my dignity, and the confidence to face the challenges of this world without fear. I am mindful that not many girls or women have the opportunity to be born in a family like ours where girls are as respected as the boys and I am also mindful that not many girls and women are cared for like you do. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENT My first thanks goes to IFCS for the Graduate Assistantship without which I might not have been able to complete this degree. I also thank the Dissertation Completion Grant Committee which provided the money for me to be able to conduct the research of my choice in my home country. I express heartfelt gratitude to Christopher Tatchell and Richie Alford for their support during the very first semester of my study. My deep appreciation goes to my dissertation committee and especially Natasha Sianko. Natasha your support, care, and encouragement have challenged me. Thank you for being there for me. Bonnie, I will never forget your extensive personal support and professional guidance during my stay in Clemson starting from the very first two weeks up to today. Kenneth, thank you for agreeing to be on my committee and for all the constructive and guiding comments you have provided. Arelis, I am immensely grateful for the personal and professional help you extended to me from even before I got the assistant ship to this day. I am very grateful to you and Shelli for the role you played in getting me into Clemson. Your concern, counsel and encouragement have contributed to my pleasant stay in Clemson. Thank you also for giving me the opportunity to co-author a paper. Thirdly, I would like to acknowledge the warm welcome and support I got from the faculty and staff of IFCS. Jim the special extra time you gave to me, Briana thank you for your tutorship. Mark, I appreciate the rides to Greenville and the cookies and the insight you provided into many aspects of life as my professor. Sue, oh, Sue thank you very much for the rides to school and hospital and, the professional insight you provided during the course of my studies. Martie, thank you for the help you provided during our time together. Marion, thank you so much for your support with IT----. To all of you, your consistent guidance and iv professional support and instruction have been invaluable throughout my stay in Clemson. Thank you for making me not miss home as much as I had thought I would. I will forever remember your kindness to a foreigner. I would also like to thank my church fellowship at the Freedom Center – Jeremy and my friends, Kweku, Barnabas, Jeff, Jade, Emma, Carol, Esther Mamie, and Sharon. Thank you for being there for me all the time. I cannot forget my family at Send a Cow especially David, Martin, Amanda, Simon and Martin. Thank you for all your help. Your guidance and support have always been invaluable. I cannot forget to thank the young girls who participated in this study and their teachers particularly the head teachers, the senior women teachers and all those who worked to make the exercise successful like, Apollo, Peter, Jamada, Rehema, Haji, Mabaalle, Mariam.and Beat. Finally I would like to thank my family and friends who have stood with me in prayer – Papa and Mama Ankrah, Abraham, Michael, Joan, Sharon, Shanon, Ephraim, Peter, Daniel, Esther, Herbert, Zirupa, Tina, Lydia, Margaret, Hellen, Catherine, Joseph, Ahuta, Charles, Sarah and little ones, Stephen, Penina, Regina, Edward, Jemima, Peter, Samuel, Regina, Elisha, Christine, Nathan, Tito , Job, Moses, and Jessica, Philip, Rosemary, Joshua, and Janet , Rebecca, Stephen, Sara, Charles, Samuel, Harriet and David. Thank you for supporting me financially, through prayer, by encouraging me, and being there for me. May the Might One Bless you all v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... i DEDICATION ......................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENT ......................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. viii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 Primary Education in Uganda ................................................................................. 3 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................ 4 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................... 6 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................. 6 Research Questions ................................................................................................. 9 Research Hypotheses ............................................................................................. 10 Significance of the Study ...................................................................................... 11 Format of the study ............................................................................................... 13 II. POLICY ISSUES RELATED TO GIRLS’ PRIMARY EDUCATION ...................... 14 Why educate girls .................................................................................................