SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS INFLUENCING FEMALE STUDENTS’ RETENTION IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MUKAA SUB-COUNTY, MAKUENI COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Education for females has been widely valued across the world. Since independence female students’ retention in schools has been found to be a major challenge in Kenya. Socio- economic factors have been highlighted as of great importance in influencing the retention of female students in secondary schools Word Wide. This study therefore investigated the influence of socio-economic factors on female students, retention in public secondary schools in Mukaa Sub-county, Makueni County. The purpose of this study was to establish the extent to which socio-economic factors influence female students’ retention in public secondary school in Mukaa Sub-county, Makueni County, Kenya. The study was guided by the following objectives; to establish the influence of family financial status on female students, retention in public secondary schools in Mukaa Sub-county, to determine the influence of parent’s educational level on female students, retention in public secondary schools in Mukaa Sub county, to establish the influence of family size on female students, retention in public secondary schools in Mukaa Sub-county and to establish the influence of parents’ marital status on the female students’ retention in public secondary schools in Mukaa Sub-county . The study was guided by the Systems Theory of Management. The study employed descriptive survey research design. The study was carried out in Mukaa Sub-county, Makueni County, Kenya. The researcher only targeted girls’ public secondary schools and mixed public secondary schools in Mukaa Sub- County. The target population of the study therefore comprised of: 37 principals, 50 form four class teachers and 1,240 form four female students in public secondary schools in Mukaa Sub-county. Stratified Sampling Technique was used to group public secondary schools in Mukaa Sub –County into County schools and Sub-County schools. The researcher used simple random sampling to select 3 County schools out of 8 and 9 Sub-County schools out of 29. Simple random sampling was also used to select 12 principals, 15 class teachers and 124 form four female students. Therefore, the sample size consisted of; 12 principals, 15 form four class teachers and 124 female students in form four. Questionnaires and documentary analysis were used to collect the data. The quantitative data was coded and entered using SPSS version 24 computer software. Descriptive statistics specifically percentage and frequency were used for analysis and data was presented in tables and graphs. From the study it was established that; family financial status influence female students’ retention to a great extent as indicated by 72.7% of the teachers and principals, parents’ education level influence female students’ retention to a great extent as indicated by 54.5%, family size influence female students’ retention to a great extent as indicated by 68.2% and parents’ marital status influence students’ retention to a great extent as indicated by 59.0%of the teachers and principals. The study concludes that most female students drop out of school because of their parents’ poor financial status, high academic attainment of parents significantly reduces chances of female students’ secondary school dropout, students from large families may drop out to give others a chance to acquire basic and female students brought up by both parents have high chances of completing secondary education. This study recommends that: communities should be empowered to alleviate poverty and enable families increase their income, government should conduct awareness and sensitization campaign on importance of family planning, parents should be sensitized to fully understand the importance of completion of secondary education and government should enforce parental laws to ensure children do not fall victim to family instability.