ABSTRACT
In most developing countries, access to education has not been fully realized especially among marginalised communities. This is more specifically pronounced in marginalised communities as well as low income households such as the Ogiek community of Nakuru County. The Ogiek community, an indigenous people, does not give equal opportunities to boys and girls to access education. This is due to socio-cultural practices and poverty because the community lacks access to resources resulting to low enrolment of girls in secondary schools. Low enrolment of Ogiek girls continue to be reported in schools at all levels despite governments efforts to fund education. In 2003, the government of Kenya introduced Constituency Development Fund (CDF) bursary. The aim was to assist the poor and the vulnerable groups meet their basic needs such as health and education. No research has been done to find out whether Ogiek girls have benefited from this Bursary. This study therefore sought to establish the contribution of the Constituency Development Fund to the provision of secondary education of girl child among the Ogiek people in Njoro Sub-County. The target population comprised of a thousand Ogiek girls while the accessible population comprised of Ogiek girls in secondary school and those eligible to be in secondary school. Snowball sampling procedure was used to select 111 Ogiek girls. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Validity of the instruments was ensured by use of experts. A pilot study was conducted to ensure reliability of the instruments where a coefficient of 0.761 was obtained by using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The study used descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequencies, means, percentages and Chi square. The study established that Ogiek girls with medium level of awareness of CDF bursary were significantly higher than the ones with high or low levels (ƛ2= 21.5, df=2, p=0.001), only 10 % of the girls accessed the funds. The CDF bursary had low influence in retaining the girls in school and more than 80 % of the girls perceived that the CDF bursary played a negligible role in transiting them to tertiary institutions. The reasons stated for the low access to the fund were: non application, lack of application forms, lack of knowledge of how and when to apply for the funds and lack of response by the fund administrators. The study recommended that the CDF administrators and other stakeholders create ways of training and providing the girls with knowledge on the fund and how to apply for it.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background Information
Education is a gateway to the world of opportunities and it empowers people for prosperity (Obare, 2004). The government of Kenya recognizes the fact that education is the main pillar in the overall development process of the country (Government of Kenya, [GoK], 2005). Consequently, it has developed an education policy that is geared towards education for all. It is aimed at eliminating disparity in all levels of education by 2015, a step that is in conformity with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) (UNESCO, 2000).
Education is the single vital key to development and alleviation of poverty in society and despite this, its potential has not been fully realized especially among the marginalised communities (GoK, 1999). In these communities, few girls enrol in schools and the few who enrol drop out early due to poverty (Towett, 2004). Consequently, these girls lack their basic right of meaningful education. The lagging behind in education of girls in these communities leads to diminished life chances in various areas such as employment, health and participation in political processes that affect their lives. This is consistent with the observation that restricted opportunity is one of the most powerful mechanisms for transmitting poverty across generations among the marginalised (Flora, 2008).
One of the marginalised communities in Kenya is the Ogiek who are few in population and not among the forty two tribes of Kenya .They do not have their own political figure and are few in formal employment. They lack access to resources and have reported low girls’ enrolment in various levels of education (Towett, 2004). In this community, girls are not given the same opportunity as boys in accessing education at all levels. Given a choice, parents lamentably prefer educating boys at the expense of girls. They do not know that when you educate a man you educate an individual but when you educate a girl you educate the whole community. In addition, the Ogiek people generally believe strongly that girls are inferior to boys and should not be educated beyond knowledge of their domestic chores (Oduor, 2004). As a result there are disparities in provision of education based on gender discrimination. Other factors that inhibit girls from attending school include cultural practices such as marrying off of girls at very early ages. This puts girls at a disadvantage in the labour market as they cannot compete with their male counterparts (Sisungo, 2009).
Lewin (2008), reports that secondary schools are available in the Ogiek community but the enrolment of Ogiek girls in secondary schools is worse than in primary schools. This is so despite the Government of Kenya subsidy of secondary education. Moreover the amount of money the government provides in subsidized secondary education is insufficient to cater for operational costs such as tuition fees and maintenance and parents may be required to meet other expenses that include food, uniforms, learning materials and special equipment. Girls from poor Ogiek households whose parents cannot meet these extra costs are unlikely to participate in secondary education. These disadvantage girls in their quest for secondary education.
The Government of Kenya has put in place several interventions to provide schooling opportunities for the poor and vulnerable. It is not confirmed whether the Ogiek are aware of these interventions. Among these interventions include free primary education, subsidized secondary education, education bursaries and Constituency Development Fund bursary (CDF). The CDF bursary as one of the interventions aims at achieving four objectives: - increasing access to secondary schools, ensuring retention of students in secondary schools, promoting transition and completion rates and reducing disparities and inequalities in the provision of secondary education. The bursary scheme targets to assist orphans, children from arid and semi-arid lands, children in difficult circumstances especially those with special needs and girls rescued from difficult circumstances such as early and forced marriages, children from poor households especially those without income and generally the girl child (GoK, 2002).
There are three thousand seven hundred and seventy eight girls in secondary school in Njoro Sub County of which about three hundred are Ogiek while there are five thousand nine hundred and seventy five boys in secondary schools in Njoro Sub-County of which six hundred and fifty are Ogiek. Moreover, the drop out rate of girls stands at 30% (Njoro Sub County Education Office, 2013).These Ogiek girls of Njoro Sub-County are eligible to this fund because they come from a community with limited resources, cultural traditions maintain that women should always play a second role to men, early marriage is common among them and less value is placed on their education. This study therefore sought; to establish how the CDF bursary scheme has assisted the Ogiek girls in the provision of secondary education in Njoro Sub-County.
Statement of the Problem
The Ogiek community has limited access to resources due to their way of life since they are inhabitants in the Mau-forest where their main activities are hunting, gathering and bee keeping. This has exposed them to high levels of poverty making them unable to provide education needs to their children. This affect the education of girls most since this community places less value on the education of daughters as compared to their sons. Moreover they place high value on marriage and motherhood and their accompanying gender specific roles. These facts make Ogiek parents unwilling to invest in the education of the girl child contributing to low enrolment of Ogiek girls in secondary schools. As a result, majority of the girls have not fully accessed secondary education, the few who enrol are not retained in schools and their transition rates to higher levels have been curtailed. This has increased illiteracy levels especially among girls and women in this community.
In 2003, the government of Kenya initiated the CDF bursary with the objective of improving such situations (GoK, 2002). It could be assumed that, with CDF bursary, Ogiek parents could enrol and retain their daughters in school. However, no research has been undertaken to establish how this bursary has assisted Ogiek girls in their education, (Ogiek People Development Program (OPDP, 2011). This study therefore was aimed at establishing the role of CDF in providing education to Ogiek girls living in Njoro Sub-County.
The Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of CDF in providing education to the Ogiek girl child in Njoro Sub-County.
Objectives of the Study
This study was guided by the following objectives:
(i) To determine the awareness level of Ogiek girls on availability of CDF bursary for their education in Njoro sub-county.
(ii) To establish the access to CDF bursary by Ogiek girls in secondary schools in Njoro Sub- County.
(iii) To determine the influence of CDF bursary on retention of Ogiek girls in secondary schools in Njoro Sub-County.
(iv) To find out the Ogiek girls’ perception on the contribution of CDF bursary in promoting their transition rate from secondary to post-secondary institutions in Njoro Sub-County.
Research Questions
The study was guided by the following research questions:
(i) What is the level of awareness of Ogiek girls on availability of CDF education bursary for their education in Njoro Sub-County?
(ii) Do Ogiek girls in Njoro Sub-County have access to CDF bursary for their secondary education?
(iii) Has CDF bursary influenced retention of Ogiek girls in secondary schools in Njoro Sub- County?
(iv) What is the perception of Ogiek girls on CDF bursary in promoting transition rate from secondary schools to other learning institutions in Njoro Sub-County?
Significance of the Study
The recommendations drawn from this study if applied by the CDF Committee will be useful in their execution of their mandate fully and be able to mitigate the negative effects to enable the Ogiek girls to realize their potential in education. The challenges that were identified can be used by the stakeholders in the education sector to device better ways of addressing them. The information contained in this thesis can be used by organizations related to the Ogiek community such as the Ogiek People Development Program (OPDP), Ogiek Rural Integral Project (ORIP) and Ogiek Welfare Council (OWC) to assist them in planning and fostering partnerships, synergies and collaborations with other stakeholders so as to attain their goal of educating Ogiek girls.
Scope of the Study
The study was carried out amongst Ogiek people in Njoro sub-county and focussed on the contribution of CDF in the provision of girl child education in Njoro Sub-County. The study targeted Ogiek girls in secondary schools and those that were eligible for secondary education.
Limitations of the Study
i. The Ogiek language was a problem to the researcher and a translator who was versed in English, Swahili and Ogiek languages was engaged to assist in communication.
ii. The research findings cannot be generalized to Ogiek girls in other areas of Kenya since it targeted Ogiek girls in Njoro Sub County only.
iii. Some parts of the research area were difficult to access by use of a vehicle due to the terrain of the area but the researcher used a motorcycle.
Assumptions of the Study
i. The study assumed that the respondents provided honest, pertinent and relevant answers to research questions.
ii. That all the respondents in the study were a reasonable representation of the targeted people in Njoro Sub County.
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Item Type: Kenyan Topic | Size: 58 pages | Chapters: 1-5
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