Education Policy

1. 1 | P a g e
A Sustained Gender responsive Policy Reforms for ensuring retention of Girls
in Secondary Schools in Kenya, which way out??
Abstract:
Kenya introduced no cost primary school education in2003. However, 1 million school age children still
are not in school. In Kwanza sub-county-Trans Nzoia Count of Kenya, the same trend is witnessed. Out of
students admitted to form 1 in secondary schools in 2008, only 25% of the students’ population were in
school by 2011. In the same cohort, 72.6% of the boys were still in school by 2007, while only 58.6% of
the girls, and were left in school translating to a dropout rate of 31.4% in 4 years. This research paper
seeks to discuss retention of girls and recommendations what will help sustain Education reform in Kenya
Introduction and Background:
Equal access to education is now a basic human right described by the United Nations Charter
and has been accepted, at least nominally, by most states (UNESCO, 2008)[1]. The World Bank
(2006) [2]concurs that the MDG target of having equal numbers of girls into primary and
secondary education by 2005 was missed, and this has put at risk achieving many of the 2015
MDGs because education, especially for girls, can help unlock progress towards other MDGs
such as child mortality, maternal health, HIV and poverty. Nevertheless, as Maicibi (2005)[3]
points out, even where equal access to education exist de-jure, there is also a de-facto great
difference of opportunities between sexes. In countries where illiteracy is still widespread, it is at
a much higher level among women than men (UNESCO, 2008) [4]. Even where education is
financed by public grants or loans irrespective of sex, parents will, in case of doubt or financial
stringency, send their sons rather than daughters to school. All over the world, the rate of girls
remaining in school at any time is much lower than that of boys (UNESCO, 2008; (J.A, 1999)
The retention rate for girls is much lower in Africa (UNESCO, 2010)[6]. While only 68.4% of
eligible females were admitted in secondary schools in Africa in 2006, and just 71.3% of these
were still in school by 2011. About 16.3% were not in schools by 2008. However, this number
may be much higher because these crude measures do not take into account those who were not
retained of the specific cohort. While about 75.6% of eligible boys joined secondary schools in
the same year, and 85.9% were still in school by the end of 2008. This reflects a non-retention
rate of just about 14.1% for males (UNESCO, 2008) [7]. There are variations in the retention
rates among girls in African states: the retention rate in Mali 63% and rural south Egypt 70% -
80%. The enrolment in public and private secondary schools in Kenya was 3,204,379 in 2009

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compared to 3,106,919 in 2008 (The World Bank, 2010) [8]. Secondary school gross enrolment
regardless of age, the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of
education in Kenya was 60.17% and 59.12% in 2009 and 2008 respectively (World Bank,
2010)[9]. In the overall analysis, the secondary education enrolment for female in Kenya was
47.21% in 2009 and 47.49% in 2008 (World Bank 2010) [9]. Secondary education completes the
provision of basic education that began at the primary level, and aims at laying the foundations
for lifelong learning and human development. With such low levels of enrollments for girls,
these aims cannot be realized.
Kenya is also faced with regional and gender disparities in education especially at the primary
school level with the lowest recorded in North Eastern Province at Gross Enrolment Rate (GER)
of 29.3% for girls compared to Western Province with the highest GER of 112.2%. North
Eastern Province is mainly inhabited by pastoral communities who are nomads, which makes it
difficult for children to attend school consistently. High poverty levels insecurity, persistent
droughts, cultural and religious beliefs that control social behaviour. Have also been suggested as
possible causes of regional disparities.
The retention rate of girls in secondary schools in Kenya is only 67.7% (GOK, 2010). Even
though Kenya introduced No-cost primary school education in 2003, an estimated one million
school-age children still are not in school. The figures may be even higher considering that only
about 68.4% of all eligible girls actually joined school.The retention rate of girls in secondary
schools in Kwanza District has been low over the last five years. Only 62.8% of the students’
population of school going age in Kwanza District is in school, of which only 48.66% are girls.
While 78.6% of the boys who joined secondary school in Kwanza District in 2006 were still in
school by 2009, only 69.6% of the girls of the same cohort were left in schools by 2009,
reflecting a dropout rate of 30.4% in four years (or 11.37% per year) as compared to 21.8% (or
7.26% per year) for boys over the same period (Kwanza District Devolvement Plan. Records at
the Kwanza District Education Office indicate that out of the 1,680 girls admitted to Form 1 in
2006; only 1,170 sat for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination in 2009. Each year, an
average of 11.37% of females in secondary schools in Kwanza drops out.

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1.4.1 Main Objective
To determine the factors associated with the low retention of girls in secondary schools in
Kwanza District.
1.4.2 Specific Objectives
· Determine the association between community-related factors and retention of girls in
secondary schools in Kwanza District.
· Determine the association between personal-related factors and retention of girls in
secondary schools in Kwanza District.
3.1 Methodology
The study employed a cross-sectional survey design of students who joined Form 1 in 2009. A
survey was preferred over other competing designs because it could enable the researcher to
collect a lot of data within a very short time. It also enabled the researcher to provide quantitative
descriptions of the population from just a part of it (Amin, 2005). The cross-sectional design was
preferred over longitudinal survey because it enabled the researcher to collect data at one point in
time, and to analyze for fuller explanation of the factors associated with low retention, rather
than following a single case (or cases) over a prolonged period of time as longitudinal survey
would have required. The sample consisted of 336 respondents selected from all the 28 mixed
and girls’ secondary schools in Kwanza District. The sample was divided into 224 students, 56
dropouts, 28 head-teachers and 28 teachers forming 336 sampled respondents.
4.1 Results
4.2.1 Demographic Factors of Respondents
Respondents are distributed by age, then the majority 70 (31.25%) of the respondents are aged
over 18 years, and they are in mixed schools while the least by age are those aged 15-16 and they
are also in mixed day schools. However, when they are compared by the class joined, then

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majority 84 (37.5%) joined in Form 1 and they are found mostly in mixed day schools. At the
same time, it shows that least number of students 38 (16.96%) joined in Form 2. In terms of their
present classes, majority of respondents 101 (45.1%) were in Form 4, while the least of
respondents 23 (10.27%) came from Form 2. This reflects the interests of the study since it was
those in Form 4 who had stayed in the schools long enough to be able describe why they have
been able to stay.
4.2 Views on why Girls in Secondary Schools in Kwanza District Change Schools
This study had hypothesized that certain factors could influence change of school (or retention)
among girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District. These factors are treated later in the
chapter under the relevant specific objectives, but it was also necessary for the study to
determine how each factor was rated by the respondents for further discussion later in the
chapter. These factors were truancy, pregnancy, insecurity, witchcraft, poverty, rules and
regulation, distance from school, forced repetition and domestic responsibilities. The responses
obtained are summarized in the table 1 below
The most popular factors that make girls dropout of schools in Kwanza District are poverty
(73.6%), pregnancy (68.7%) and the distance from school (61.9%) in that order. It also shows the
least influencing factors as truancy (83.4%), domestic responsibilities (70.6%) and witchcraft
(68.2%). The rest of the factors were only moderately rated. Hence from the point of view of the
respondents, it can be deduced that girls dropout of schools manly due to poverty, pregnancy and
due to domestic responsibilities. However those who stay in schools do so because lack of
truancy (i.e. they want to learn) and because they come from close proximity to their schools.
However, these results are from the opinions of the respondents and are just views. They do not
show the actual effect of these factors on retention. The results were subjected to hypothesis
testing as described in the sub sections that follow.
4.4 Associated Factors and Retention of Girls in Secondary Schools in Kwanza District
4.4.1 Home Related Factors and Retention of Girls in Secondary Schools
The first concern of this study was determine if home related factors are associated with low
retention of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District. Home related factors were mainly
concerned with parents’ attitudes towards school, monitoring and control from parents, poverty

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and domestic responsibilities. Were asked to these issues by indicating which of them hinder
their continued stay in school by ticking Yes or No. They responded as summarized in Table 1.
Table 1: Views of Respondents of Home Related Factors on Retention of Girls in
Secondary
Percentage Responses
Home Related Factors Yes No
Parents negative attitude towards school. 85.5 14.5
Lack of monitoring and control from parents. 78.2 21.8
Domestic responsibilities. 79.6 20.4
Poverty. 83.2 16.8
Mean 81.6 18.4
The results in Table 4.3 indicate that most girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District
dropout but mostly due to negative parents’ attitude towards school (85.5%), and poverty
(83.2%). On average 81.6 percent of respondent agree that home elated factors affect their
retention in school. The average retention of the schools was determined from the total
percentage of students still in school against those admitted in the 2009 cohort.
Table 1: Summary of Retention of Girls in Secondary Schools in Kwanza District - Based
Home Related Factors n Percent Mean Retention Std.Dev.
Good 5 17.85 79.02 8.56
Moderate 15 53.57 68.60 11.76
Poor 8 28.57 57.91 11.93
Total 28 100.00 68.51 13.11

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The information in Table 8 suggest that schools with good home related factors have higher
retention than schools with moderate or poor home related factors. This supports the results
suggested by the views of the respondents that home related factors are associated with retention
of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District. However, only 5 (or 17.86%) schools in
Kwanza District have good home related factors, with a mean retention of 79.02%. The rest
82.15% of the schools have moderate and poor home related factors, with a mean retention of
63.26%. These results suggest that home related factors are associated with low retention of girls
in secondary schools in Kwanza District.
Table 9 shows the statistics for regression of home-related factors and retention. The table
shows that overall regression model is significant (Fo = 5.556 > F (1, 78) = 3.960; αo = .021 < αc =
.05). The t values also indicate a significant association (to = 2.357 > t (78) = 1.930). This led to
the rejection of the hypothesis that home-related factors have No significant association with
retention of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District. The study therefore established that
home-related factors are significantly associated with retention of girls in secondary schools in
Kwanza District.
The adjusted R square statistic (Adj. R2
= .055) indicates that home-related factors accounts for
5.5% of the variance in retention of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District. This leaves
about 94.5% to other factors including errors in the measurements. Since home-related factors
are significant predictors of retention, it was possible to build prediction model of retention using
the constant and B value such that RI
= 71.637 - 0.247HRL; where RI
was the predicted
retention, and HRF the status of home related factors. Hence it is possible to influence retention
of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District by about 5.58% through manipulating home
related factors.
4.4.2 School Related Factors and Retention of Girls in Secondary Schools
The second concern of this study was determine if school related factors are associated with low
the retention of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District. School related factors mainly
concerned with forced repetition of classes, distance between school and home, sexual
harassment by teachers and fellow students and school rules and regulation. Respondents were
asked to react to these issues by indicating which of them affect or hinder their continued stay in

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school by selecting Yes or No alternatives. The preliminary views of the respondents are
summarized in Table 10.
Table 2: Views of Respondents of School Related Factors and Retention of Girls
Percentage Responses
School Related Factors Yes No
Forced repetition 17.6 82.4
Distance from school 61.2 37.8
Sexual harassments 28.6 71.4
School Rules and regulations 19.6 80.4
Average 31.8 68.2
The information in Table 10 suggests that most girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District
dropout mainly due to long distances to school (61.2%). But on average, school related factors
do not seem to cause dropout among girls since majority of respondents (68.2%) responded with
No, while only 31.8 percent responded Yes. It can be deduced from these results that school
related factors do not cause dropout of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District from the
standpoint of the views alone. The average retention of each school was determined from the
total percentage of students still in school against those admitted in the 2009 cohort. The coding

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procedure described in 3.9 was applied on the data so that school related factors for each school
were rated as good, moderate or poor. The status of school related factors was then compared to
the mean retention of the school and the results in Table 11 were obtained.

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Table 3: Retention of Girls in Secondary Schools in Kwanza District - Based on School
Related Factors
School Related Factors n Percent Mean Retention Std.Dev
Good 13 46.43 75.06 11.88
Moderate 5 17.86 68.93 11.91
Poor 10 35.71 61.60 13.80
Total 28 100.00 68.53 13.11
Table 11 indicates that schools with good school related factors have higher retention than
schools with moderate or poor school related factors. It also shows that most schools (or 46.43%)
of schools in Kwanza District have good school related factors, and a mean retention of 75.06%.
These results suggest that there is a relationship between school-related factors and retention of
girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District and that the better the school- related factors, the
higher the retention. To confirm the findings implied from the views expressed by the
respondents, the data was further analyzed using regression analysis to determine if there is a
significant relationship between school-related factors and retention of girls in schools.

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The statistics for regression of school-related factors and retention. From the table, the overall
regression model is not significant (Fo = .306 < F (1, 78) = 3.960; αo = .582 > αc = .05), which leads
to the same conclusion. The t values also indicate a non-significant association (to = .553 < t (78) =
1.930) and points to the same conclusion. The hypothesis that there is No significant relationship
between school-related factors and retention of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District
was therefore accepted. The study therefore established that school-related factors are not a
significant determinant of retention among girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District. The
adjusted R square statistic (Adj. R2
= .001) indicates that school-related factors accounts for just
0.01% of the variance in retention of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District, leaving a
whole 99.9% of the variance in retention to other factors. Moreover, since school-related factors
are not a significant predictor of retention, it was not possible to build prediction model of
retention using the constant and B values. The study therefore established that school related
factors are not significantly associated with low retention of girls in secondary schools in
Kwanza District. Thus school-related factors do not explain the low retention of girls in
secondary schools in Kwanza District.
4.4.3 Community Related Factors and Retention of Girls in Secondary Schools
This study also determined whether or not community-related factors are associated with
retention of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District. Community-related factors were
characterized by beliefs about witchcraft and evil spirits, traditions, early marriages and roles of
women. Respondents were asked to react to these issues by indicating which of them hinder their
continued stay in school by checking Yes or No. The preliminary results of the analysis are
summarized in Table 13

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Table 4:Views of Respondents of Community Related Factors and Retention of Girls in
Secondary Schools in Kwanza District
Percentage Responses
Community Related Factors Yes No
Witchcraft and evil spirits. 27.2 72.6
Early marriages 41.7 58.3
Roles of women 30.3 69.7
Negative Traditions 38.6 61.4
Average 34.5 65.5
The data in Table 13 would suggest that most girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District
dropout mainly due to witchcraft and evil spirits (72.6%) and due to roles conferred on women
by the community (69.7%). But on average, it can be said the community-related factors are not
significantly associated with low retention rate of among girls since majority of respondents
(65.5%) respondents No, while only 34.5% responded yes. It is in order to deduce from these
results that community-related factors are not significantly associated with low retention of girls
in secondary schools in Kwanza District.
The average retention rate of each school was determined from the total percentage of students
still in school against those admitted in the 2009 cohort. The coding procedure described in 3.9
was applied on the data so that community-related factors for each school were rated as good,
moderate or poor. The status of community-related factors was then compared to the mean
retention of the school and the results in Table 14 were obtained.

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Table 5: Summary of Retention of Girls in Secondary Schools in Kwanza District - Based
on Community Related Factors
Community Related Factors n Percent Mean Retention Std.Dev
Good 13 46.42 69.87 12.79
Moderate 9 32.14 67.08 10.92
Poor 9 32.14 62.55 17.34
Total 28 100.00 66.5 13.11
n = sample, Std.Dev = standard deviation.
Table 14 shows that schools with good community-related factors have higher retention than
schools with moderate or poor community-related factors. It also significant to note that 13
schools (46.42%) in Kwanza District have good community-related factors, with a mean
retention of 69.87. These results suggest a relationship between community-related factors and
retention rate of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District; and that the better the
community-related factors, the higher the retention rate of girls.
The statistics for regression of community-related factors and retention. The tables indicates that
the overall regression model is not significant since Fo = .296 < F (1, 78) = 3.960; and αo = .588 >
αc = .05, which leads to the same conclusion. The t values also indicate a non-significant
association between community-related factors and retention since to = .544 < t (78) = 1.930). This
also points to the same conclusion. The hypothesis that community-related factors do not have a
significant association on retention among girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District was
therefore accepted. The study therefore established that community-related factors are not
significant determinant of girls’ retention in secondary schools. The adjusted R square statistic
(Adj. R2
= .009) indicates that community-related factors accounts for just 0.09% of the variance
in retention among girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District, leaving a whole 99.1% of the
variance in retention to other factors. This large proportion of unexplained variance further adds
to the fact that the relationship is not significant. Since community-related factors are significant
predictors of retention, it was not necessary to build prediction model of retention using the

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constant and B values. The study therefore established that community-related factors are not
significantly associated with low retention of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District.
4.4.4 Personal Factors and Retention of Girls in Secondary Schools
Lastly, this study determined if personal factors lower the retention of girls in secondary
schools in Kwanza District. Personal factors were conceptualized as truancy, attitudes towards
school, pregnancy and monthly periods. Data on this objective was collected from respondents
by requesting them to react to these issues by indicating which of them hinder their continued
stay in school, by selecting either Yes or No response.
There is association between personal factors and retention of girls in secondary schools in
Kwanza District. In total, majority of respondents (62.8%) responded yes, while only 37.2%
responded No. This suggests that most respondents feel that personal factors cause dropout of
girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District. Data in Table 16 further show that of all the girls
who dropout due to personal factors, pregnancy accounts for 89.8%, inability to attend to
monthly periods account for 61.3%, and truancy and negative attitude towards school account for
52.4% and 48.0% respectively. It can be said from these preliminary results that personal factors
lower the retention of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District.
The average retention of the schools was determined from the total percentage of students still in
school against those admitted in the 2009 cohort. The coding procedure described in 3.9 was
applied on the data so that personal factors for each school were rated as good, fair or poor. The
status of personal related factors was then compared to the mean retention of the schools and the
results in Table 17 were obtained.

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Table 6: Summary of Retention of Girls in Secondary Schools in Kwanza District - Based
on Personal Factors
Personal Factors n Percent Mean Retention Std.Dev
Good 5 17.86 77.40 11.55
Moderate 12 42.86 68.61 11.37
Poor 11 39.28 61.55 13.39
Total 28 100.00 67.41 13.11
n = sample, Std.Dev = standard deviation.
Schools with students with good personal factors have higher retention than schools with
students with moderate or poor personal factors. But only five schools (17.86%) in Kwanza
District have majority of students with good personal factors, and their mean retention is
77.40%. Twelve schools (42.86%) and 11 schools (39.28%) in Kwanza District have students
with moderate and poor personal factors respectively, with a mean retention of 65.08%. These
results suggest that personal factors affect the retention of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza
District: the better the personal factors, the higher the retention. To confirm the results implied
above, the data was further analyzed through regression to determine if there is a significant
relationship between personal factors and the retention of girls in schools in Kwanza District
The statistics for regression of personal factors and retention among girls in secondary schools in
Kwanza District. The table shows that overall regression model is significant (Fo = 5.123 > F (1,
78) = 3.960; αo = .024 < αc = .05). The t values also indicate a significant association since to =
2.263 > t (78) = 1.980, which leads to the same conclusion. The hypothesis that there is no
significant relationship between personal factors retention among girls in secondary schools in
Kwanza District was therefore rejected. The study therefore established that personal factors are
significant determinants of retention among girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District.
The adjusted R square statistic (Adj. R2
= .013) indicates that personal factors accounts for 1.3%
of the variance in retention of girls in secondary schools. Thus 98.7% of the various in retention

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are explained by other factors including errors in the measurements. Since personal factors is
significant predictor of retention of girls in secondary schools, it was possible to build prediction
model of retention using the constant and B value such that RI
= 49.974 - 0.13PF; where RI
was
the predicted retention, and PF the status of personal factors. This means that it is possible to
change retention by about 1.3% through manipulating personal factors of the girls. The study
therefore established that personal factors lower the retention of girls in secondary schools in
Kwanza District.
5.1 Discussion
The findings on home related factors have significant implications to retention of girls. It shows
that parents attitudes towards school, capacity of parents monitoring and control children,
poverty and domestic responsibilities all related factors affect the retention of girls in secondary,
and the better more favourable these factors are, the higher the retention rate. Thus a female
student from a home where parents have positive attitudes towards school, and where parents
closely monitor and control children have the propensity of over 79% of remaining in school for
the full cycle if the poverty levels are managed and if the child is not burdened with domestic
responsibilities. This finding concurs with those expressed by IPAR (2007)[10] and Richards and
Vining (2004)[11] that home related factors are among the major causes of dropout among girls
in Africa. Taken together with the omega results, the results indicate that if home factors are
favourable, then 79.02% of girls will be attracted to remain in school to the level of 5.58%
through home factors alone, other factors not withstanding. It is also incongruence with the
views of Walker (2002) [12] that parents’ attitudes towards school and poverty are the major
stumbling block to women education in Africa. Hence this is where that management of schools
in Kwanza District should focus.
The finding on school related factors means that there are forced repetitions of classes in schools
in Kwanza District. It also confirms the views expressed Government of Kenya.(2005, 2007)[13]
that abolished repetition of classes by students. It also shows that the requirement by the
UNESCO (2008)[14] that schools be built within the accessible radius to students has been
effectively implemented by the government of Kenya and by schools in Kwanza District. Indeed
it was established that majority of the schools have good school related factors which means that

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there are No sexual harassment by teachers and fellow students and that school rules and
regulation are acceptable to most students. UNESCO (1992)[15] expressed that schools be run
democratically and that the views of students be taken into account when taking decisions that
affect them. This advice seems to have been taken positively by the management of schools in
the district. It can therefore be said that schools in Kwanza District are more hospitable than the
homes where the children come from. In fact, better results could be obtained if most of the
schools were converted into boarding schools so that most girls can benefit from the good school
environments. The fact that most schools (46.42%) [16] had good school related factor is a very
significant finding. It shows that the government has taken significant steps to ensure that
schools are hospitable and conducive to girls.
The finding on community-related factors is significant because it describes status or the role of
education as viewed by the community in the district. In terms of the factors considered under
this study, it means that witchcraft and evil spirits, early marriages, roles of women and roles of
women are not repugnant to schooling of women in Kwanza District. Psacharpoulus (1994)[17]
observes that early marriages are one of the significant determinants of retention among girls in
Africa. This is not the case of girls in Kwanza District probably due to strong government
influence and the general enlightenment of the community. But as Sheilds (1987) [18] points out,
the issues of witchcraft and evil spirits, traditions, early marriages and roles of women are crucial
determinants of girls’ retention in most African states, and indeed, in some parts of Kenya. But
as established by this study, they are not significant determinants of retention in Kwanza District.
This means that girls in Kwanza District are forced into early marriages, and they are not
restricted to roles that may keep them out of school, neither are there traditions that keep them
out of schools. This finding supports the views advanced by Bourne and Walker (1991)[19] that
witchcraft is not related to performance in schools, whether for girls or boys. It was also noted
that most schools (46.43%) have good community-related factors. In fact about 78.56% have
moderate community-related factors and above indicating that Kwanza District has taken
concrete steps to deal with witchcraft, early marriages, roles of women and traditions that restrict
women certain areas and duties and which tend to keep them out of schools.

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The findings on personal factors indicate that truancy; attitudes towards school, pregnancy and
monthly periods are some of the major factors that keep girls out of secondary in Kwanza
District. The same views were expressed by IPAR (2007)[20] and by GOK (2005) [21]. It is
therefore disturbing since only 5 schools (17.86%) of schools in Kwanza District have good
personal factors. In 11 (or 39.28%) of the schools, there is truancy, negative attitudes towards
school, high pregnancy and inadequate monthly periods facilities which makes staying in schools
difficult for girls. As UNESCO (2008) [22] points out, Kenya is one of the countries that do not
have a scheme for sanitary towels for its students. This makes it difficult for girls to stay in
school over this time. And since they have to undergo this procedure every month, they soon find
themselves behind other and end up dropping out school altogether. At the same time, as the
views expressed by Freidman long ago in 1963 are still being witnessed in Kwanza in 2010.
According to Freidman (1963) [23], girls have a negative attitude towards schools because they
know they will get married to men who are already in school. So they see No need of staying in
school. This negative feeling leads to a feeling of truancy among them and hence they drop out.
It is also significant to note that personal factors account for 1.5% of the factors that keep girls
out of school. This means that school with girls of good personal factors can retain up to 77.40%
of those girls with 1.5% conviction to stay in school.
5.4 Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to determine the factors lowering the retention of girls in
secondary schools in Kwanza District. The study established that home related factors and
personal factors are significant determinists of retention, but not environment and school related
factors. Based on these findings, the study concludes that home-related factors are the most
significant factor that lowers the retention of girls in secondary schools in Kwanza District. This
is because even though personal factors also have a significant effect on retention, the personal
factors are contained within the home related factors. Hence to improve the retention of girls in
secondary schools, effort and energy should be directed to parents’ attitudes, parental monitoring
and control, poverty eradication and domestic responsibilities of girls while at home. If these are
properly handled, they will affect truancy, attitude of the girls towards school, rates of pregnancy
and help them handle their monthly periods well. This will ensure that most of them remain in
school.

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5.5 Recommendations
Based on the findings and the conclusion drawn above, this study makes the following
recommendations. The study recommends that efforts be made by the ministry of education to
sustain the reform that have so far seen schools become better environments than homes of the
students. The school, administration should ensure those sporadic cases of sexual harassments
and that negative rules and regulations are omitted or improved.
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3. GOK. (2007). Education statistical abstract 2001. Nairobi
4. IPAR , (2007).Making public Secondary Education in Kenya Affordable.
5. Kwanza District Devolvement Plan - 2007-2012
6. Opare, J. A. (1999, November). Academic achievement in private and public schools:
Management makes the difference. Journal of Educational Management. Vol. 2, pp.1-12.
7. Psacharpoulus, G. (1994). Returns to investment in education. A global update. World
Development, 22 (a), 1325 – 43.
8. UNESCO. (1992). A case study of special education in Japan. Paris: Author.
9. UNESCO. (1998). Policy paper on quality: UNESCO Working document. France:
Author.
10. UNESCO. (1998, October). Higher education in the 21st
century: Vision and action,
towards an agenda for higher education. Paris: Author.
11. Walker C. (2002) Piety in the sky? Gender policy and land reforms in South