Factors Influencing the Access of the Girl Child to Secondary Education in Mbale Municipality, Uganda

Abstract

The Study Focused On Investigating The Factors That Influence The Access Of Girl Child To Secondary School In Mbale Municipality, Uganda. The Objectives Were To Find Out How Socio Cultural Factors Influence The Access Of Girl Child Education; To Find Out How Parental Level Of Education Influence The Access Of Girl Child Education, To Find Out How Parents Level Of Income Influence The Access Of Girl Child Education. The Study Used Cross Sectional Survey Design That Was Conducted Using Both The Qualitative And Quantitative Approaches. The Population Was 7609 Which Gave An Equivalent Sample Of 367 Representing Above 5% Of The Respondents. Questionnaire And Interview Were Used To Collected A Data. The Sampling Techniques Adopted Were Simple Random Sampling And Purposive Sampling Techniques. The Data Collected Was Analyzed Using Descriptive Statistics And Presented By Simple Frequency Distribution Table. Also The Researcher Used Statistical Package For Social Science (Spss) To Analyze And Interpreted. The Study Established That The Socio-Cultural Factors Influence The Access Of Girl Child Education, Specifically That Early Marriage, Teenage Pregnancy And Parents Prefer To Send Boys Than Girls To School.190 Responded Are Of The View That Early Marriage Is One Of The Cultural Influence Of The Access Of Girl Child Education. The Educational Level Of Parents Is Also One Of The Factors Influencing Girl Child Education. In Support Of This Were 198 Are Of The View That Educated Mothers Will Produce Well Behaved Children And This Would Influence The Access Of Girl Child Education In The Community. The Finding Indicate That Income Of Parents Is One Of The Determinants Of The Access To Education Of Girl Child, Because If The Incomes That Are Resource Of Parents Are High, The Education Of Girls Would Be Managed Up To Level Of Graduation. Therefore Poverty Is One Of The Big Challenges To The Education Of Girls. In Support Of This 168 Responded Were Of This Opinion. Recommendations Of This Study Were; Government And Other Stockholders Should Help And Suggest Appropriate Ways On How Girl Child Education Could Be Managed And Improved Upon In Secondary School In Mbale Municipality.