Access to and Dropout of Girls From School: A Quantitative Analysis of the Effects of Marriage Arrangements on Girl-Child Education in Bolni

Abstract

The education of the girl-child has suffered many setbacks both in the past and at the present. As a result some girls are denied access while others are forced to drop out-of-school especially in rural Ghana. This study therefore examined the effects of marriage arrangements on girl-child education in Bolni, a rural community in the Nanumba North District of the Northern Region, Ghana. The study adopted a quantitative method of research design and employed questionnaire in collecting data. Eighty respondents were sampled for the study. The study used simple regression analysis to determine the relationship between marriage arrangements and girl-child education while t-test was used to validate the hypotheses. Exchange, Betrothal and preferred marriage arrangements all had relationships with girl-child education and the effects of such relationships were inimical to their ability to access school or remain in school. Hence the increase in the number of girls involved in a marriage arrangement led to a corresponding increase in the number of girls who were either denied access to or dropped out from school. It is recommended that, school social workers, community workers and gender activists should educate parents to do away with such marriages and invest in their girls' education.

Gendered geographical inequalities in junior high school enrollment

“…The finding that investments in more schools and seating places at the national and district levels are not statistically associated with gender parity in school enrollment is consistent with our earlier acknowledgment that family structure, income, employment, and traditional cultural values and norms may drive gendered parity in education (Afridi et al , 2016; Atuahene and Owusu-Ansah, 2013; Dolan et al , 2014; Mabefam and Ohene-Konadu, 2013; UNESCO, 2012a). Thus, the provision of more schools and seating places may be necessary, but not sufficient to ensure that boys and girls are afforded the same opportunities to attend school.…”

“…In this study, we focus on three key categories of resources (infrastructure, human, and financial) based on a framework of resource typology used in a forerunner study by Shuqair and Abdel-Aziz (2015) to examine resource allocation at the district level in Ghana. Our focus on resource allocation typologies does not discount the role that household factors such as family structure, income, employment, and traditional cultural values and norms play in driving gendered parity in education (Afridi et al, 2016;Atuahene and Owusu-Ansah, 2013;Dolan et al, 2014;Mabefam and Ohene-Konadu, 2013;UNESCO, 2012a).…”

Women’s Health Decision-Making Autonomy and Skilled Birth Attendance in Ghana

“…The standard DHS indicator for measuring women's health decision-making autonomy is a woman's ability to decide on her own healthcare [27]. With this, autonomous woman was considered as someone who decides on healthcare alone coded as “0” whilst anyone taking health decision with others was considered as not autonomous coded as “1.” This is because a couple of studies have revealed low decision-making participation among Ghanaian women [16, 18] and therefore it is suitable for someone to be considered to have healthcare decision-making autonomy if she can decide alone on her own healthcare. Some variables were recoded for simplicity of analysis and presentation.…”