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Determinants of Drop-out among Public Islamic School Girls in the Techiman Municipality

Asonaba Kofi Addison*, Daniel Djoto

Department of Basic Educationm, University of Education, Wiineba, Ghana

Abstract: The study was to investigate into the factors that inform decisions for Islamic girl children to drop out of school, with special reference to parental attitude. Data were collected using questionnaire and structured interview. Fifty Techiman girl children of the Islamic background and their parents who were randomly selected formed the population for the study. Data were analysed using multiple regression and frequency tables. The findings of the study point to five factors two of which are social in nature and three of which are academic in nature, as responsible for the high rate of dropout among Islamic school girls in the Techiman municipality. The study established that contrary to the general perception that parents have to be blamed for dropout among school girls, parent of these Islamic schools girls have positive attitude towards their wards’ education. Discussion of the result were made and conclusions drawn. Recommendations were made.

Keywords: dropout, parental attitude, girl children, education

Received March 11, 2015; Revised April 04, 2015; Accepted April 10, 2015

Citation: Asonaba Kofi Addison, Daniel Djoto, Determinants of Drop-out among Public Islamic School Girls in the Techiman Municipality. American Journal of Educational Research, 3 (4). 514-526. January 2015. doi:10.12691/education-3-4-19

1. Introduction

1.1. Background to the Study

According to Kneller, (1965) education is the process by which society, through schools, colleges, universities and other institutions deliberately transmit its cultural heritage from one generation to another. For this reason education is the major or highest tool for rapid development in any community.

However, the attitudes of some parents do not favour girls to have equal educational opportunities with their male counterparts. This situation has long existed in the Techiman Community and some parts of the Northern areas of the Brong Ahafo region for a number of years now. This has not only increased the poverty level of parents, but also hindered the growth and development of the area both economically and socially.

Educational policies and programmes in Ghana from the colonial time of the Basel, Wesley and other missionaries to date have been very emphatic on the education of females. Baltes (2002) cites the establishment of the Government Girls School in Cape Coast in 1821 as the First attempt to give education to females in Ghana.

After the first World Conference on Women held in Mexico City in 1975, Women Associations at national and across international levels have not regretted or relented efforts in organizing seminars, workshops, conferences and symposia to raise and sustain the growing awareness that, it is only education that can eliminate social and cultural barriers that militate against female advancement in status. Sekyere (2002) quotes Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey as saying that “if you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a whole nation’. In fact, so much value, and importance has been placed on the education of females that governments the world over, non-governmental organizations and women’s organizations are teaming up in resources in the development of initiatives or plans, policies and programmes to intensify the creation of awareness on the education of females.

Also the creation of the Girls’ Education Unit at national, regional and district levels and the appointment of National Regional and District Girl’s Education Officers in all national, regional and at the district headquarters of the Ghana Education Service (GES) coupled with the annual conduct of the Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (STME) Clinics for Girls in each district throughout the country are to promote the participation of females in education especially at the Basic and Secondary levels.

Taking cognizance of the statement above, one sees or realizes that, education is the bedrock for the development of any nation. Education can therefore be said to be the backbone or cornerstone of the country’s development, beyond that it is also seen as the key to unlock the doors of technological advancement leading to modernization. As one eminent Ghanaian, (Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey) said, “it is significant that a greater commitment to women’s education and training on the part of, national government is generally regard as vital for enhancing women’s productivity”.

It is increasingly recognized that educating women will be of great benefit for families and societies as a whole or in general. Education can enhance women’s share of benefits in the area of production by increasing their income earning capacity and enabling them to participate on an equal basis with their men counterparts in the labour market.

Due to the great deal of constraints many drop-out or leave school without being able to read or write the official or national language of their country and such illiteracy has a permanent effect on their personal and social development, hence turning them into second-class citizens. In actual fact this is the exact situation pertaining in the Techiman Municipal of the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana.

A visit to the medical centres of Techiman, the Techiman Ahmadiyah Hospital, the Holy Family hospital and others shows that there are only few of the nurses who hail from the Techiman municipality. Mothers who attend antenatal clinic at the hospitals mentioned cannot provide their dates of births and those of their children and this poses a lot of challenges to the medical staff of the hospitals.

Most of the members of the womenfolk in Techiman are traders in the well-known Nana Ameyaw market but they find it very difficult to keep proper records of their daily transactions. This unpleasant situation attracted the attention of the writers to investigate the situation of Girl Child Education.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

The phenomenon of poor school attendance by girls (especially Muslim girls) in the Techiman Municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region has been a major source of worry to both parents and school authorities. The major aspect of this problem however, has been the retention of the pupils in schools in the municipality. Many girl children of school going age are usually found out of school during school hours. Some of these may either have dropped out of school or may just be playing truant, or may be engaged in one form of menial job or the other.They are usually engaged in hawking, and a number of them too fall victims to teenage pregnancies at tender ages. There is every indication that parents of most of the girls of school going age seem to have either shirked their responsibility of directing their children’s school going or have lost control over their girl children’s right to go to school. If girls who are supposed to be in school are usually seen engaged in other activities than schooling, if parents of these girls have lost the awareness of their children’s right to education, and if school authorities are unable to device means of getting these girls back to the classroom, then several questions arise.

The objectives of this study are to:

1. explore the social factors that influence the drop-out of Islamic girls from schools in the Techiman Municipality.

2. investigate how these social factors influence Islamic girls to drop-out of schools in the Techiman Municipality.

3. determine whether academic factors are part of the reasons why Islamic girls drop-out of schools in the Techiman Municipality.

4. determine whether parental factor affect the rate of school drop-out among Islamic girls in the Techiman Municipality.

1.3. Research Questions

1. Do social factors influence Islamic girl children’s school drop out in the Techiman Municipality?

2. How do these social factors influence Islamic girls to drop-out of school in the Techiman Municipality?

3. Do academic factors determine the Techiman Islamic school girl children’s decision to drop out of school?

4. Do parents of Techiman Islamic girl children’s contribute to the prevalence of school dropout among them?.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Issues Concerning Girl-Child Education

The issues of girls’ education are being heightened as one of the crucial means of eradicating illiteracy among women and also achieving sustainable national development and economic growth. At the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China (1995), the limited access of girls to education was discussed and it was stressed that, even though overall progress has been achieved, girls in many countries still face discrimination in education due to socio-economic and traditional factors. The girls continue to be denied quality education, especially, at higher levels in science and technology. In Africa, the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) established in 1993, has taken up the challenge in ensuring that illiteracy among women in Africa is eradicated. Current figures have it that over thirty-six (36) million of potential women, (that is girl-children) are missing from schools in Sub-Sahara Africa. (Banson, 2000). The Ghana chapter of FAWE is tackling the Ghanaian situation mainly through advocacy and initiatives. Consequently, in 1995, FAWE Ghana, organized grassroots workshop in seven Districts in the Eastern, Volta, Greater Accra and Central Regions, where new partnerships were formed to assist in extending FAWE’s advocacy role. FAWE says that, the society’s inability to have its girls educated will have dire consequences on the development of the society and its citizenry.

2.2. The Need for Educating the Girl-Child

Over half a century ago, Dr. E. Kwegyir Aggrey, stated as cited in McWilliam and Kwamena Poh (1957) that “if you educate a man, you educate an individual, but in Mac if you educate a woman you educate a nation”. This observation was made in view of the tremendous roles women play in the child’s upbringing. Thus, if girls are not properly educated they will shirk this vital responsibility. Bannerman (1978) asserts that the quotation of the late Dr. E. K. Aggrey places more emphasis on the education of women as a “sine qua non” for national development. Yageen (1999) points out that it is a wrong notion that women are supposed only to look after the household, to take care of the children and after that their responsibility ends. The fact is that women enjoy great status, rights and privileges as well as full opportunity given to them to acquire knowledge and serve humanity within the scope of Religion. Some parents argue that it is not useful sending a girl-child to school since she ends up in the kitchen as a housewife. Even if that assertion were so; there are subjects in the higher schools which prepare a girl adequately to become a responsible housewife. So taking her to school has some desirable consequences. Kuenyehia (1997) states that even though women out-number men in this country, it does not reflect on the number of women who are educated, and stresses the need for the education of the girl-child.

According to Boserup (1970), only a tiny minority of girls in developing countries are engaged in higher education. She defined higher education as “all education beyond the age of fourteen” (relative).. Iddrisu (1993) observed that most primary and middle schools in Ghana are co-educational but many second cycle institutions admit more boys than girls in secondary schools. Technical schools generally offered only courses suitable for boys. This has however, changed now, although boys still stand better chances of gaining admission to public educational institutions at all levels than girls. This has been the result of the campaign in support of equality of women with men worldwide, which is even the primary objective of the Ministry of Education in Ghana.

Due to equality in Education between girls and boys, many girls’ schools have been opened in the country. The first girls’ school in the country was opened by the Basel mission in 1847 at Akropong Akwapim in the Eastern Region, others include O. L. A. Girls Secondary Schools in the Central and Volta Regions and Yaa Asentewa Girls Secondary School in the Ashanti Region as well as the Aburi Girls’ Secondary School in the Eastern Region.. Besides religious studies, subjects such as housecraft, spinning and weaving were taught in these schools. According to Yageen (1999) in 1997 the Ministry of Education established the girl’s education unit of the Ghana Education Service to increase girls’ enrolment in schools to equal that of boys by the year 2005. The unit was also tasked to reduce the dropout rate of girls from 30% to 20% in primary schools and the Junior High Schools from 29% to 15%. The science technology and mathematics education for girls was started in 1987 to promote the interest of girls in science, technology and mathematics education, and also to enable them to interact with women scientists and technologist. The schools were decentralized to the district levels in 1997 and have resulted in an increased number of girls pursuing science and technology related courses in the Senior High Schools as well as the Universities (GES 2000). Despite these attempts women still lag behind in educational attainment and societal status.

2.3. Parental Attitude/Influence on the Education of Girl-child

The family is the first socializing agency in the life of every child. According to Alhassan (1996), typically, a parent has the major responsibility for the socialization of the child. Alhassan (1996) also holds on to the assertion that the family, and for that matter the parent is the single most important agency for the inculcation of those basic social values and character traits which make for the child’s eventual participation in the life of society which incidentally is the aim of education. Parental attitudes therefore, have been found as playing a significant role in the education of the child, most especially during the child’s formative years and especially of the girl child. Afful-Broni (2005) states that the way in which a person was raised has a very great influence on what he eventually becomes. Even when girls go to school, they will often have to do house work assigned them by parents at the expense of their home work. When they become pregnant, school policies also force them to dropout. When parents consider their daughters future, they often see education as a hindrance and not a help to successful marriage and motherhood (Danladi, 2003). According to Banson (2000) parents of the Brong Ahafo and Upper West Regions as well as those from Kenya prefer to send their boys to school instead of girls. He explained that such parents feel an educated girl would end up in another man’s house. Banson (2000) citing Bellamy (1997) identified factors inhibiting girl child education as:

i. The trade of parents and household chores and upbringing practices negating personal development on the female.

ii. The distance to and from school and parents’ worries about girls’ safety.

iii. Negative parental views that girls may get pregnant.

i. Traditional beliefs.

ii. Socio-economic problems or challenges such as discrimination, poverty etc.

Parents’ views and opinions on education influence their girls’ education and several examples have been cited to support educated parents. Educated parents give their daughters encouragement towards attaining greater heights in education. The occupational preference of the educated parents converges largely on the top professions, whereas the educational preference of the uneducated parents corresponds with the duration or years of education they propose for their daughters.

Educated parents give more assistance to the authorities in the education of their daughters as compared to the uneducated parents. The educated parents show concern in their wards attendance to school; they are ready to pay the appropriate fees, whereas the uneducated parents only want to reschedule the payment of their girls’ fees. Osita-Oleribe (2007) came out with how un-educated parents in Katcha, a small settlement in Nigeria accepted a cultural indoctrination and used it to influence their daughter’s education. Parents in this area according to him, made their children believe that education (the western type) is not needed and thus, advised them to run their lives without it. Girls are made to believe that their place of fulfillment is in their husbands’ homes and since education (to them) is not needed to marry not to make babies, they should focus just on getting the right man accepting the parent’s choice and making such a man happy. This level of indoctrination has made all girl children in the area focus on marrying rather than studying. He continues to say that this situation is no different in other parts of West Africa. Thus, even the few that are privileged to go to school, cannot wait for the right time, so whenever the man arrives, they drop out of school. Educated parents are committed to bear extra financial expenses by providing the requisite educational facilities such as books, tables, chairs and part-time teachers for their girls’ uneducated parents, even though have good intentions with regards to their daughters education, their aspirations are not as high as the educated parents. It is important to note that the education of parents has a positive impact on the number of daughters that are sent to school. Parents with good educational background are more likely to send their daughters to school than those without any educational background. Banson (2000) asserts that educated people in the area of study tend to marry later in life and cut down family size. Conversely, the level of fertility is negatively associated with educational attainment.

3. Methodology

The descriptive research survey was used for this study. The descriptive survey enabled the research to acquire a lot of information through description of attitudes of subjects as same behaviours and attitudes cannot be studied in any other way. Finally the use of descriptive survey was intended to help the study in testing the theory of the study indirectly.

3.1. Population

The target population for the study was all the school girl-children of the Techiman municipality, their parents and their teachers. The accessible population however, was girl- children of the Twelve Islamic Basic Schools in the Techiman municipality. The schools were made up of 875 girls, fifty of whom were sampled for the study. These schools were chosen because of their location in the municipality where commercial activities thrive so well that they have virtually become the only attractive event for the girls. Besides, it is the conviction of these researchers that girls in this location will provide the characteristics that will inform the dynamics of environment that fuel girl child school dropout. The results from this sample could thus be conveniently generalized to cover the entire population.

3.2. Sample and Sampling Techniques

The following schools were randomly selected: Ahmadiyya Islamic Junior High School, Al-ILhairiya Islamic Junior High School, Techiman Islamic Junior High School, Tanoso Imam Islamic Junior High School and Nsuatre Islamic Junior High School.

The second stage was the selection of fifty respondents from the 395 girls and their parents for the study as well as fifty teachers. Fifty girl children were randomly selected. However, before the randomization the sample was stratified into classes because whereas forms one and two had two girls each as subjects, form three turned out four respondents. The reason for this development is that, the JHS classes are only three and besides, the form three girls were more mature than the girls in the junior classes. The researchers felt their maturity could make them equally have many more experiences that will be of advantage to the course of this study. Parents or guardians of all selected subjects became automatic subjects for the study. Four teachers each were selected randomly from the schools.

The sample is presented in Table 3.1 below:

Table 3.1. Distribution of schools and pupils with corresponding number of Parents & Teachers used in the study

3.3. Instrumentation

The instruments used for this research work were the questionnaire and interview. Two different sets of questionnaire were designed, one for the parents and the other one for the girls. An interview guide was also prepared for teachers. The questionnaire for parents was divided into two sections A and B. Section A: discusses the bio-data of the respondents and section ‘B’ of the questionnaire was to find out parents’ attitudes towards their girl-children’s education. Questionnaire for the girls was also divided into two sections: section ‘A’ discusses the bio-data of the respondents and sections ‘B’ was to find students’ attitudes towards their education. The rationale for the parents’ questionnaire was to find their educational background, economic activities and general encouragement towards the education of the girl-child. The structured interview for the teachers was also made up of three sections A, B, C meant to elicit information on the teachers’ bio-data, views on the challenges of girl-child education and their views on the way forward.

3.4. Methods of Data Collection

The researchers first introduced themselves to the municipal director of Education to seek permission to enable the research to be carried out in the selected schools. This was followed by an explanation of the objectives for carrying out the study and the wider implication the findings will have for the schools and the educational enterprise as a whole to the headmistresses of the schools. The next stage was an interaction with the various class teachers. The researchers then explained in detail to each of the teachers how the administration of the instrument would be done and the role they were expected to play in this regard.

In administering the questionnaire the researchers distributed them to the girl-children, explained the procedure for responding to the items to them and requested they responded to them as freely and honestly as possible. The researchers collected the completed questionnaire immediately after the exercise. On the part of the parents each of them had their questionnaire dispatched to them through their wards and were later contacted individually in their homes to respond to the questionnaire. After which the researchers collected same and thanked. The teachers were allowed to return their completed questionnaire the following week. The whole exercise took three weeks to complete because most of the parents could only be contacted in the evenings when they had returned from their farms, the markets and business places.

Administration of the questionnaire was not difficult as most items were close ended. It was also straight forward and not difficult to translate into such local languages as Bono, Hausa, Dagbani, Dagaree, and Mamprusi that are often spoken in the area. In all, the researchers sent out 120 copies of questionnaire and were able to retrieve ninety (90), this was 82% return rate.

3.5. Methods of Data Analysis

The data collected were analyzed using multiple regression analysis statistical tool, correlations, as well as frequency counts and simple percentage descriptions. The multiple regression analysis was used to analyse the responses from the student respondents. The dependant variable was ‘I do not go to school’ and the independent variables were twofold: - Social factors and Academic factors. The first regression covered the social while the second regression covered the academic factors. The detailed analysis is covered in the next chapter.

4. Analysis of Data and Results

4.1. Regression Analysis of Social Factors

Table 4.1. Descriptive Statistics

The results in the table show that the total number of respondents was 50. The highest and the lowest means are 3.2400 and 1.3600 respectively. The highest and the least standard deviations are 1.36785 and 0.43142 respectively. To establish the correlation between each pair of variables, Pearson’s correlation was run. The results are shown in the Table 4.2 below:

Table 4.2. Correlations between each Pair of Variables

Table 4.3. Correlation between School and Personal Needs

Table 4.4. Correlations between Schooling and Occuptaion

Results in the Table 4.2 – 4.4 above show that there are no strong correlations between the predictor variables. The values are thus acceptable.

Table 4.5. Model Summary

In the table above the adjusted R square tells us that our model account for 86.8% of the variance. To determine the statistically significant effect of the predictor social variables on the dependent variable (I do not attend to school regularly) the table 6 below is presented.

4.2. Dependent Variable: I do not Attend School Regularly

The results in the table suggest that only two of the 7 predictors are statistically significant. The variables ‘my needs are provided for by myself’ and ‘I would like to take after my mum’s occupation’ are the only social factors that influence drop out among girl pupils of the Islamic schools in the Techiman municipality. This clearly suggests that Islamic school girls do not show interest in schooling because they find it difficult to have their needs met by anybody else except themselves. This situation compels them to abandon the classroom in search of menial jobs to help them meet their needs. Again, these girls seem to abandon the classroom to follow their mothers in their occupations because they are convinced that they will gain there more than they would from the classroom.

The second part of the analysis was done to establish the academic factors that determine the Islamic school girl children’s school dropout of rate. The tables below help explain the academic factors responsible for the high dropout rate among girl pupils of Islamic basic schools in the Techiman municipality.

Table 4.6. Coefficients

4.3. Academic

Table 4.7. Descriptive Statistics

To establish the correlation between each pair of variables, Pearson’s correlation was run. The results are shown in the table below:

Table 4.8. Pearson Correlation

Results in the Table 4.8 above show that there are no strong correlations between the predictor variables. The values are thus acceptable.

Table 4.9. Model Summary

In the table above the adjusted R square tells that the model account for 67.6% of the variance is to determine the statistically significant effect of the predictor academic variables on the dependent variable (I do not attend school regularly) the table 10 below is presented.

Table 4.10. Model Summary

4.4. Dependent Variable: I do not Attend School Regularly

Results from the table 4.10 above show that three major factors are responsible for the dropout rate among girl children of the Islamic faith background in the Techiman municipality. The factors are: “I consider being in school as a girl waste of resources”; “If I become pregnant I will like to continue my education after giving birth”; and “I have someone in the community I will like to be like”. The results indicate that, the girls have a mentality that a girl’s continuous stay in school is eventually not going to yield any good thing that will inure to the benefit of the girl’s. Hence the earlier a girl abandons school to engage in any venture she deems beneficial, the better it will be for that girl.

Furthermore, the results buttresses the fact that Islamic school girls in the municipality hold a very strong conviction that as for school, one can safely return to it even if one gets pregnant and decides to stay out of school and return after giving birth. It is this conviction that probably pushes them out of school but they are unable to return due to the challenges of child bearing.

The last indicator from the table with regard to dropout is that, the community abounds with many affluent female who gained their status and wealth not through education. These are the role models and mentors of these young girls. The result of this role modeling is that the girls see one’s insistence on schooling as a delay in one’s realization of one’s lifelong ambition of becoming one of the affluents in society.

To further understand the probable perception of parents with regard to the determinants of school drop out by Islamic school girls, the following responses were elicited with the questionnaire.

4.5. Analysis of Parents’ Questionnaire (Bio-data of Respondents)

Table 4.11. Gender (Sex) Distribution of Parents

Table 4.11, indicates that out of a number of fifty parents, thirty (60%) of them were male while twenty (40%) were female. This clearly indicates that more male parents responded to the questionnaire than females.

Table 4.12. Age Distribution

Table 4.12 depicts the age range of respondents. It indicates that three (6%) out of the 50 respondents were below 30 years, twenty (40%) were also between 41-50 years and seventeen (34%) others were above 50 years conclusion could be drawn that people within the age range of 31-40 have more of their children in Junior High Schools.

Table 4.13. Marital Status of Parents

Table 4.13, shows the marital status of parents. The table indicates that thirty (60%) of the respondents were married. Thirteen (26%) were single parents. Five (10%) were divorced and two (4%) were widows or widowers. This means that majority of the respondents (parents) were married. This thus shows that these are parents that could be responsible parents towards their girl-child education.

Following from the above, the researcher sought to find out the extent to which these parents provide the enabling home environment for their girl children to learn. The results of this inquisition are provided in the table below:

Table 4.14. Facilities provided at Home to enable the Girl-child to Learn

From the table above, twenty-two (40%) respondents said that they provide books at home, fourteen (28%) also mentioned that they provide light/lantern for their girls at home while three (6%) others said they provide part-time teachers for their girls and one (2%) of the respondents said that he provides just a table and a chair at home. The remaining ten (20%) mentioned that they provide all the items mentioned above such as books, light/lanterns, part-time teachers and table and chairs.

This means that most parents could not afford to provide the requisite needs of their girl-children in school except fraction or few of them. This goes to buttress the assertion of Alhassan (1996) that parents in Bimbilla town perceive girl-child education as just as waste of money.

Table 4.15. What would you want your Girl-child to do after her Basic Education?

Table 4.15, shows that ten (20%) of the respondents indicated that they would want their wards to continue their education, five (10%) said they would want to learn a vocation, five (10%) did indicate that they would want to trade and a whooping number of 30 representing 60% of the respondents said that they will like their wards to marry. It would be inferred from the table that though most girls in the area may wish to be educated, the attitude of their parents contributes to their missing the opportunity to do so. Furthermore, this is an indication of the fact that most parents equally see the continuing of one’s education after basic level as rather an affront to the girl’s future womanhood.

Table 4.16. Would the Girl-children continue their education after given birth?

Table 4.16, discusses whether the girl-children would like to continue their education after giving birth. The table shows that forty (80%) of the girl-children are willing to further their education after giving birth and ten (20%) others said that they feel shy to further. This is a clear indication that most girls in this area are interested in schooling or education.

Table 4.17. Daughters to take up Mother’s Occupation

Table 4.17, seeks to find whether parents would want their daughter’s to take up their mothers occupations. According to the table, five (10) out of the total number of parents said they would want their daughters to take their mothers occupation whiles forty-five (90%) of them stated that they would not like their daughters to do so. This indicates that the majority of parents want their girl-children to be in school rather than take up their occupations.

Table 4.18. Distribution of Parents’ Educational Background

Table 4.18, indicates the educational background of parents. The table shows nineteen (38%) had no schooling at all, ten (20%) of the respondents have stopped their studies or schooling at the primary level. Ten (20%) also had completed middle school or basic schools. Eleven (22%) others have attended secondary education, no parent or respondent have had neither professional nor tertiary education. This indicates that only a few of the parents are able to reach second cycle level of education while majority of them stopped the basic level.

Table 4.19. Female Education Beneficial

Table 4.19, seeks to find whether female education is beneficial. From the table all eh respondents numbered fifty representing hundred percent (100%) answered ‘yes’. The all agree to the fact that female education is very beneficial, and educating the girl-child does not help only the girl but the society as a whole.

Osita-Oleribe (2007) in outlining the benefits of the girl-child education came out with seven advantages, one of which is mental empowerment, mental empowerment by education; help them impart the right kind of virtues and skills on the family. Until a woman is fully mentally empowered, she will remain nuisance on her family and friends.

Table 4.20. Activities which Parents Engage their Daughters in?

Table 4.20, shows the distribution of the activities that parents engage their daughters in revealed that five (10%) of the respondents asked their daughters to look after their younger siblings, twenty-one (42%) of them asked their daughters to help in the house-hold chores and fifteen (30%) said that they asked their daughters to help in their mothers trade. The rest is nine (18%) of the respondents indicated that they ask their daughters to sell other petty items implies that most parents do not give their girl-children the chance to study and even do their home work at home. This supports, Fawes (1996) who stated that, child labour is another main reason why some children do not effectively participate in schooling.

Table 4.21. Support for the Up-keep of the Family

Table 4.21, discusses whether pupils contribute in any way towards the up-keep of their families. The table indicates that majority of girls, that is forty-three (86%) do not do anything or work to earn any income to support their families, however, seven (1`4%) of the girls work to earn some income to support their families. Despite the fact that a few girls help their families, the practice needs to be totally discouraged.

Table 4.22. Education of the Girl-child as a Form of Waste of Resources

Table 4.22 seeks to find out whether the education of the girl-child is a waste of resource. The table indicates that out of a total number of fifty respondents, forty-nine (98%) of the girls’ parents indicated that educating the girl-child is not a waste of resource in any way while one (2%) did indicate that education of girls is a waste of resources. This is a clear indication that girls who get themselves educated formally are determined to go through formal education.

Table 4.23. Encouragement from Parents towards Girl-child Education

The table shows that forty-five (90%) of the parents encourage their girls to be in school while (10%) of the parent discourage their girl children education. Adu (1996) noted that as a result of some parents motivating their female children to go to school, a great change in socio-economic and political lives of women in the country has happened.

5. Discussions, Conclusion, Limitation and Recommendation

The research was began with the problem that, same Muslim girls have negative attitude towards school, and this is caused by parental attitude due to poverty and ignorance, and the lack of will on the part of the schools to do anything about the situation.

The key finding from then study indicate that three (6%) out of the 50 parent respondents were below 30 years, twenty (40%) were also between 41-50 years and seventeen (34%) others were above 50 years conclusion could be drawn that people within the age range of 31-40 have more of their children in Junior High Schools. Further, the results of the study indicate that three (6%) out of the 50 respondents were below 30 years, twenty (40%) were also between 41-50 years and seventeen (34%) others were above 50 years conclusion could be drawn that people within the age range of 31-40 have more of their children in Junior High Schools. With regard to the educational background of the parents, the results of the study showed that nineteen (38%) had no schooling at all, ten (20%) of the respondents have stopped their studies or schooling at the primary level, Ten (20%) also had completed middle school or basic schools, Eleven (22%) others have attended secondary education, while no parent or respondent has had either any professional or tertiary education. This indicates that only a few of the parents were able to reach second cycle level of education while majority of them stopped the basic level.

The Social factors that influence the drop-out of Islamic girl from schools.

In answering the research question that associate this theme (Research Question 1), a multiple regression analysis was run. A number of social factors that were established from the literature from the literature were run on the dependent variable. The factors as generated from the literature emanating from other studies were thrown open to participants to declare their opinion on. Respondents gave various views about the relationship between those factors and one’s reluctance to regular school attendance. Their views indicated varied degrees of correlation between the dependent variable and the independent variables. This finding is in agreement with Afful-Broni (2005) who strongly suggests that a girl’s upbringing or the social environment in which a girl was raised has great influence on her future life choices including her education.

The findings also revealed that though these social factors do influence Islamic girls ‘decision to stay out of school at one time or another, their influence on such decisions is determined to a very large extent by parental support or otherwise. This revelation corroborates Alhassan (1996) when he claims that typically a parent has the major responsibility for the socialization of the child. Furthermore, this finding confirms Murad’s (1998) finding that the first impediment to a girl’s academic achievement is poverty. She continues that if a family’s income is low, the son is normally chosen to attend school rather than the daughter. The other confirmation o this revelation from the study is what Banson (2000) expressed. According to him the socio-economic status of parents has a great deal of influence on the girl child’s continuous stay in school.

Implying from what these authorities have indicated coupled with the finding made from the study; there is the need to explain the phenomenon in the context of the Techiman situation. The principal occupation of the people Techiman is trading. Techiman has one of the biggest market centres in the country. Most of the parents of the respondents are traders. This suggests that the girls are introduced to their parents’ occupation at very early ages of life and therefore it becomes extremely difficult to completely detach themselves from it. Another possible reason is that a good number of the population of Techiman is made up of migrant settlers whose activities are mainly connected to trading so the transitional nature of their stay there does not motivate them to engage in any training of their children and dependants that is academic solid. Following from what Alhassan (1996) said that, parents of Islamic background in Bimbila town perceive girl child education as a mere time wasting, it is equally likely that parental enforcement of regular school attendance by girls is largely lacking among the Islamic community in Techiman.

From the findings therefore, it can be said that social factors do influence the Techiman Islamic girl child’s decision to drop out of school.

The ways that social factors influence Islamic children to drop-out of school.

In answering the research question behind this theme (i.e. Research Question 2) a multiple regression analysis was run to establish the extent to which each of the social factors afore determined influences Islamic school girl children’s decision to drop out of school.

The results of the study indicate that though as many as seven social factors influence Islamic school girl children’s decision to drop out of school, only two of those factors significantly influence such decisions. The first finding is the girls’ needs are provided by themselves. This suggests that in as much as they want to be in school the support that ought to have come from their parents or guardians by way of provision of school and other needs does not come. The consequence of this situation is that these girls will have to abandon school going to earn some financial backbone to enable them meet their needs. This finding confirms the finding by Murard (1998) who opines that the first impediment to girls’ academic prospects is poverty. If a family’s income is low, the son is normally chosen to attend school rather than the daughter. Furthermore, girls can create more demands where education is concerned. Apart from books and other equipment, they have suitable clothing and enough pocket money.

Again, this revelation from the study to a very large extent confirms the finding by Boakye-Donkor (1997), which says peer influence is also one of the causes which account for the high dropout rate of female education. Girls at the secondary level especially, are lured into material things which other friends have would also like to have. This, most often leads to unwanted pregnancy and eventually girls dropping out of school.

Techiman’s position as a market hub for Ghana makes it extremely easier for the girls to engage in activities that will earn them some income to meet their so-called needs. These girls therefore engage in such trading activities as buying and selling, as well as serving as female porters. Engaging in such commercial activities entails a lot of time so when girls enter into it they spend much of their school hours in there. Thus, they find it difficult catching up with their mates who stay in school all the time. This essentially leads to an absolute loss of interest in schooling on the part of the girls which eventually results in school dropout by the girls.

The second social factor that significantly influences the girls’ reason for Islamic girls drop out of school is the fact that the girls’ wish is and has always been that they take after their mummies’ occupation. Majority of the girl respondents claim they will want to take after their mothers’ occupations. It is quite instructive for one to note that the principal occupation of these mothers is trading. Many a woman has settled in Techiman to trade because of the market the town offers. It therefore presupposes that all that these girls want is a little education and immediately after, jump into what they are convinced they can do better to for their present and future lives. This finding is in agreement with the finding by Dolphyne (1997) who explained that many parents have very limited knowledge about the girls’ education and could only succeed as dressmakers, hairdressers, bakers and so on. All that the girl needs is the basic primary education after which she could be apprenticed to a professional seamstress, a hairdresser or a baker so that she could learn a trade Furthermore, the revelation from the study confirms the claim by Boakye-Donkor (1997), that absenteeism from school is one major cause of low grade performance and achievement of girls in schools today as well as contributory factor to high dropout rate. Traders find it cheaper to use their children or wards as partners when going to the market centres especially on the market days when help is needed most. This clearly shows that it is not just the wish of these Islamic school girls to take after their mother’s occupation of trading, but also as a result of their being introduced to it by parents during their early lives a very profound interest in trading has been developed by the girls. It therefore becomes relatively easier for them to integrate into the trading community anytime they so desire.

The answer to the research question two therefore is that, the two most significant social determinants of school dropout among Techiman Islamic school girl children are: The fact that the girls have to do jobs basically by way of trading, to provide for their personal needs; and the fact that the girls will always like to take after their mothers occupation, which the study established as mainly trading.

Academic causes of Islamic girls drop-out of school

In answering the research question that underpins this theme (i.e. Research Question 3), a multiple regression analysis was run. A number of academic factors that were established from the literature were run on the dependent variable. The factors as generated from the literature emanating from other studies were thrown open to participants to declare their opinion on. Respondents gave various views about the relationship between those factors and one’s reluctance to regular school attendance. Their views indicated varied degrees of correlation between the dependent variable and the independent variables. This finding is in agreement with Murard’s (1998) claim that the first impediment to girls’ academic prospects is poverty. If a family’s income is low, the son is normally chosen to attend school rather than the daughter. Furthermore, girls can create more demands where education is concerned. Apart from books and other equipment, they have suitable clothing and enough pocket money. Murard’s (1998) observation clearly confirms the finding that some of the factors that roundly inform the decision of girls to stay out of school are academic in nature.

As many as seven of such academic factors were derived from the literature reviewed for the study. After these factors had been transformed into research variables and a regression analysis of them had been run on the dependent variables three of those factor were statistically significant. One of those factors is that the girls consider being in school for a long while as waste of resources. This finding aptly agrees with the assertion by Boserup (1970), that only a tiny minority of girls in developing countries are engaged in higher education. She defined higher education as “all education beyond the age of fourteen” (relative). The revelation suggests that Girls in the Techiman municipality who hold the Islamic faith do not have any confidence in circular education. Hence attending circular school is of no benefit to them.

The second factor that the study established is that girls strongly believe that with the circular school system there is so much freedom that one can stay out of it for as long as one wishes and return to it if one so desires. They therefore stand convinced that at anytime they can laze about, do all forms of trading and get pregnant after being delivered of their children they can return without any hindrance.

The third factor identified by the study is the fact that most of the Techiman Islamic school girls have their role models outside the school system. This suggests that they do not see the achievement by any female academician as a source of inspiration for them to struggle to attain same.

The answer to research question 3 is that, there are three academic factors that influence the decision of Techiman Islamic girl children to stay out of school.

Firstly, the girls have the opinion that one’s continuous stay in school for a long while is simply waste of resources. This view confirms the finding by Osita-Oleribe (2007) who came out with how un-educated parents in Katcha, a small settlement in Nigeria accepted a cultural indoctrination and used it to influence their daughter’s education. Parents in this area according to him, made their children believe that education (the western type) is not needed and thus, advised them to run their lives without it. Implying from the finding above, it can be concluded that these Islamic school girls in Techiman must have been indoctrinated by both their parents and by their faith to believe that staying on secular education for so long a time is waste. Hence, their permanently negative attitude towards education which, ultimately, leads to total dropping out of school.

Furthermore, this finding is in agreement with Osita-Oleribe’s (2007) observation that Girls are made to believe that their place of fulfilment is in their husbands’ homes and since education (to them) is not needed to marry not to make babies, they should focus just on getting the right man accepting the parent’s choice and making such a man happy. This level of indoctrination has made all girl children in the area focus on marrying rather than studying. Thus, even the few that are privileged to go to school, cannot wait for the right time, so whenever the man arrives, they drop out of school.

The second academic factor that influences the decision of Techiman Islamic school girls’ negative attitude towards schooling is that the girls are of a firm conviction that one can go out of school to make children after which one can return to school without any hindrance whatsoever. This in direct consonance with Osita-Oleribe’s (2007) observation that Girls are made to believe that their place of fulfilment is in their husbands’ homes and since education (to them) is not needed to marry not to make babies, they should focus just on getting the right man accepting the parent’s choice and making such a man happy. This level of indoctrination has made all girl children in the area focus on marrying rather than studying. Thus, even the few that are privileged to go to school, cannot wait for the right time, so whenever the man arrives, they drop out of school. These girls therefore marriage as the ultimate preoccupation of every woman so they see dropping out of school as nothing criminal or untoward.

Another possible reason for this state of affairs among the girls is the fact that the very parents who are supposed to encourage them to stay in school are themselves not interested in secular education. They (the parents) are in most cases not educated themselves. This finding is in agreement with the assertion by Osita-Oleribe (2007) that ‘Educated parents are committed to bear extra financial expenses by providing the requisite educational facilities such as books, tables, chairs and part-time teachers for their girls’ uneducated parents, even though have good intentions with regards to their daughters education, their aspirations are not as high as the educated parents. It is important to note that the education of parents has a positive impact on the number of daughters that are sent to school’.

She went on to assert that ‘Parents with good educational background are more likely to send their daughters to school than those without any educational background. Furthermore, educated people in the area of study tend to marry later in life and cut down family size. Conversely, the level of fertility is negatively associated with educational attainment’.

The other academic factor the study revealed is that, persons whose lives sort of influence them as girls are persons outside the educational realm In other words; the responses that were elicited from the girls indicate that they have their role models from the community outside the school community. In the Techiman municipality and its environs majority of women of ‘substance’ are those who made it through commercial and other related activities and not through education. Women in high positions in the area are those that have been sent there to work by either the public or civil service. Some of such personalities are personnel from the security services and the Ghana Education Service. The girls do not see these female personnel as models. It follows therefore that if the girls are looking up to female affluents as their models, then trading will be their focus and not education. This view of the girls’ contradicts what Dr Aggrey said as cited by Kwamena Poh (1957) that “if you educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a nation”. This observation was made in view of the tremendous roles women play in the child’s upbringing. Thus, if girls are not properly educated they will shirk this vital responsibility.

Parental cause of Islamic girls’ drop-out of school?

The research question 4 sought to determine the attitude of parents of the Islamic school girls towards their wards’ decision to drop out of school. In answering this question data collected from parent subjects were analyzed using frequency counts for the responses. Contrary to the general perception and the numerous research conclusions that parents are in part to blame for the high rate of dropout among girls, the study revealed that parents of Techiman Islamic school girls provide the necessary inputs towards the successful school attendance by their wards.

As regards inputs for children’s school attendance, majority of the parents provide books required for use in school; they provide furniture and other facilities at home for their children’s private studies and preps. Majority however, do not seek the services of part-time teachers. This finding is in sharp contrast with the position taken by Banson (2000) According to Banson (2000) parents of the Brong Ahafo and Upper West Regions as well as those from Kenya prefer to send their boys to school instead of girls. He explained that such parents feel an educated girl would end up in another man’s house. The finding contradicts yet another position by Banson (2000), who, citing Cole Lough (1989) revealed that it is a combination of attitude of schooling and practical constraints that seem to limit female enrolment, encourage, a higher repetition and absenteeism among girls. Cole Lough (1982) identified other associated factors including:

i. The trade of parents and household chores and upbringing practices negating personal development on the female.

ii. The distance to and from school and parents’ worries about girls’ safety.

iii. Negative parental views that girls may get pregnant.

Also the other factors determining high rate of dropout in girl-child education are as follows:

i. Traditional beliefs.

ii. Socio-economic problems or challenges such as discrimination, poverty etc.

iii. Constraints against the education of girls.

Traditional Beliefs and Economic Problems

Traditional beliefs Banson (2000) says the two main traditional practices as Dipo and Trokosi among some Ghanaians in the Eastern Region and the Volta Region respectively contribute to a very low education on the part of girls.

Boakye-Donkor (1997) wrote that two cultural practices have contributed to the low level of girl-child participation in education in Ghana, especially in the Eastern and Volta Regions. Those two practices are “Dipo and the “Trokosi” systems. The Dipo on one hand is the practice of initiating a girl into adulthood. On another hand it indirectly encourages the female adolescents to enter into early marriage since this practice in a way is viewed as a “gateway” to maturity and thus marriage. The Trokosi system enslaves girls in a shrine as atonement for the sins of their family members. The results of the study squarely put the decision by girl children to stay out of school to the girls themselves and completely ‘exonerate’ as it were, parents and, also rule out such factors as enumerated above by the two researchers.

Besides the provision of the necessary inputs for their girl children’s schooling, almost all the parents interviewed stated that they would like their children their education to the highest level possible. Again, majority of them claim that their wards have told them they will like to continue with their schooling and not to drop out of school to engage in trading or learn a trade. Another revelation is that a very good majority of the parents also claim that they will not like their children to take after their occupation. The possible reason for this scenario may be that most of the parents interviewed have had one form of education or the other. Furthermore, the recent campaign by government and women groups to urge parents to be concerned with their girl child education may be one reason why these parents have taken this position.

5.1. Conclusion

School dropout among girls, especially Islamic school girls in the Techiman municipality has become an issue in recent times. It is against this background that was the study embarked upon by the researchers to establish the possible reasons for this phenomenon and the contribution of parents thereof. Contrary to the general perception and the numerous research conclusions that parents are in part to blame for the high rate of dropout among girls, the study revealed that parents of Techiman Islamic school girls provide the necessary inputs towards the successful school attendance by their wards.

Findings from the study show that Islamic school girls drop out of school because of some social and academic factors. Principal among these social factors are that most of the girls do provide their own needs. Therefore, they find school going as secondary since they ought to satisfy their basic needs before thinking about other issues. Another social factor the study established is that most of the Islamic school girls will always like to take after their mothers’ occupations. Hence school going is never an attraction. The least push by any external demands like trading or the need for one to provide one’s needs leads to a partial or complete withdrawal from school by these girls.

The findings of the study also revealed three academic related reasons that push girls out of school. Firstly, the girls consider being in school for longer periods is a complete waste of time. This is borne out of the mentality among many of these female Islamic youth that a woman’s ultimate position will be to marry. Furthermore, the findings of the study revealed that the girls are convinced that even if one briefly stops schooling to make babies one can return without any hindrance. For this reason girls carelessly engage in sex resulting in pregnancy. Their decision to return to the classroom after being delivered of their babies is always jeopardized by challenges of child birth.

The third academic factor the findings of the study established is that the girls look up to certain individuals in the community outside the school setup as their role models. These role models are persons who have kind of self actualized not through education but through activities like trading. It thus becomes more attractive to trade than to school.

From the foregoing, it can be concluded that, the major factors that influence regular school attendance by Islamic school girls in the Techiman municipality are child-made and not parent-made. It is however, ironical that such conclusion does not roundly support what the literature provided. The findings clearly suggest a certain pattern of conclusion i.e. parents of these girls seem to have lost their hold ( by way of child control) on their wards; the market environment seems to give a certain direction to the shaping of the school life of Techiman school girls of the Islamic faith; no successful strategies have been put in place by education authorities to arrest this canker.

5.2. Challenges

One challenge to this study is the pressure of time and resources constraints of the researchers. Again, the unwillingness on the part of some respondents to disclose certain pieces of information to the researcher hampered the smoothness of the work. Limited time for the study as well as insufficient or inadequate financial resources was also a challenge. These can affect the findings interpreted from the available data. Schools within the Techiman municipality are long distances apart from each other, so the researchers spent more time in visiting school to school in the course of administering the instruments. Also many parents were not willing to respond to the questionnaire, because they thought the items delved too deep into their private lives. It was further observed that some of the respondents had little time for the interviews conducted with them since they felt it was time consuming, hence the low response rate.The other problem encountered during the administration of the questionnaire was the delay in answering the questionnaire by the respondents especially the teachers who were so much engaged in their normal class duties. Also, the researchers had to explain the questionnaire several times to the illiterate respondents before they could answer them.

5.3. Recommendations

Based on the findings of the study the following recommendations are made:

1. The Techiman Municipal Assembly should endeavour to enact and enforce bye laws on ensuring that school children remain in school till they complete. The Education authorities in the municipality should take on adults who engage these minors in trading and other activities with the legal authorities.

2. Education on the need to send one’s girl child to school should be intensified among the Muslim community in Techiman.

3. Traditional authorities in the Techiman municipality must be deeply involved in efforts by government agencies like the Municipal Assembly in ensuring full school attendance.

4. This study must be replicated by other researchers in other areas of the country where there are market centres

5. Other studies must not control for school levels.

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