Abstract:
Girl-child education is recognized as a critical pathway in promoting social, political and economic development in the world over. In Kenya, in spite of the progress made in narrowing the gender gap in education at the primary level, still some parts of the country especially among the Ogiek community of Nakuru County, records show that female participation in primary education is low leading to a wider difference in secondary and post-secondary institutions. Education aspiration is influenced by a product of several factors. However, studies done have not clearly spelt out how socio-cultural factors influence girl-child educational aspirations particularly among the marginalized communities in Kenya. The purpose of the study was to examine selected socio-cultural factors influencing girl-child educational aspiration among the Ogiek community of Kenya. The study sought to establish whether early marriages and female circumcision as well as parental attitude i nfluenced educational aspiration of girl child among the Ogiek community. The study employed Social Exclusion Theory which posits that exclusion is said to have occurred when citizens suffer from disadvantage position in the society and unable to secure access to their social rights. The study was carried out in Kuresoi Division which has twenty two public primary schools. Eight (8) schools were purposefirl chosen because they have pupils from Ogiek Community. The study further targeted 332 class six and seven girls. The study adopted descriptive survey design. Thirty percent was used to establish the sample size of class six and seven girls who participated in the study as guided by simple random sampling was used to select I00 girls who participated in the study as respondents. Ten key informants were also used to solicit in depth responses through key interview schedule. Questionnaires and interviews schedules were used to collect primary data. Data collection tools were validated through specific changes made by the supervisors in order to ensure that they conform to the study’s objectives. Reliability of the tool was determined by using Cronbach’s Alpha. The questionnaire had a reliability of 0.861 which was above the accepted threshold index of 0.70. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences using descriptive statistics. The findings were summarized and presented in frequency tables, figures and graphs for easy tabulation and interpretation of the findings. The study found that the three main factors namely early marriages, female circumcision and parental attitude influence educational aspirations of the girl child. The study recommended that there is need for the government through the Ministry of Education (school management among other education stakeholders) on the need to create awareness to parents in order to understand and appreciate the importance of girl child education.
