Factors affecting female participation in senior high school level of education in the Kwahu West Municipality

Abstract

Educating girls is crucial to development, and apart from the intrinsic value of education, better educated women have higher incomes, healthier and better educated children. The benefits of educating girls are undeniable and contribute to poverty alleviation, improved nutrition and reduced childbirth. The study examined the general perception of girl child participation in education and the school factors that affects girls’participation in senior high school. The study employed the descriptive survey design. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the parents and teachers for the study. Simple random sampling technique was however used to select the students. The selected respondents provided data for the study through the use of a questionnaire which was pre-tested to obtain a reliability alpha co-efficient of 0.65 for teachers, 0.70 for parents and 0.75 for female students. The study revealed that male students are most regular in school than female students and that gender bias in the school’s curriculum hinders girls’ participation in senior high school. The study revealed that most teenage girls drop out of school due to pregnancy and the distance from home to school hinders girls’ participation in senior high school. It was therefore recommended that workshops, talk shows and seminars be organised for parents by school authorities and other stakeholders of education to sensitize parents on the need to promote girls’ child participation in senior high school.