Socio-Economic Factors That Influence Dropout among Boys in Secondary School in Muthambi Division

Abstract

SocioEconomic Factors That Influence Dropout among Boys in Secondary School in Muthambi Division 1. Introduction The Government of Kenya (G.O.K) has supported provision of education as away of developing the human capital (Republic of Kenya, 1965). It supported the establishment of 'Harambee' schools, introduced cost-sharing between the government, parents and community and curriculum Rationalization (Republic of Kenya, 1999) as a way of making education cheaper, affordable and accessible. Recent policy initiatives have been keen on attaining education for all (EFA) with particular interest in equity, quality, relevance and internal and external efficiencies within the education system. According to sessional paper no.l of 2005, on a policy framework for education training research, the government has a long term aim of providing every Kenyan with basic quality education and training, including a 2 year pre-primary education, 8 years of primary and 4 years of secondary/technical education. The provision of education has been seen as a way of reducing the income gap between the affluent and less fortunate. According to Woodhall, UNESCO-IIEP & International Development Authority, Swedish (2019) education also helps to eliminate poverty because it is an investment. According to Gramani (2017) dropout and repetition have regressive effects on equity in the education system and the economic profiles of drop out and repeaters show the phenomenon is most common among students from low income socioeconomic background. Various policy initiatives have been put in place to curb the dropout problem. These include cost sharing policy in secondary schools where the government takes care of tuition fees and the students only need to pay for their upkeep in schools. Establishment of Bursary award from Government to students through constituencies and establishment of more day schools are not adequate in solving the problem of drop out in schools. The fear in the escalating drop out in secondary schools is that the education system will actually perpetuate and increase inequality. Nationally drop out leads to unemployment. Many factors could be responsible for student dropout in secondary schools. These include poverty, administration problems in schools, and the background of the student, among others. If the dropout is not checked it will reduce the public and private and social benefits of education. The youth that drop out could enter into socially unacceptable activities such as; stealing, prostitution and illegal trade. Kenya is signatory to the MDGs thus adequate measures should be put in place to bring equity in education provision by increasing survival, completion, transition rates and reducing drop-out. Many governments in developing