By Robert Nyagah
The number of male students enrolling in secondary schools in Kirinyaga has been dwindling with the majority falling into child labour from whose earnings are mainly spent on illicit liquor and narcotics.
Education stakeholders agree that overemphasis on the girl child education has led to the neglect of the boy child.
Consequently, majority flood the now often crime-afflicted, cruelly competitive and commercially unstable bodaboda and taxi industries and miraa trade.
Research by a University of Nairobi scholar Dr. Joel Mwangi Wamichwe on the socio-economic factors affecting enrolment of the male student in public schools in the county indicates that alcohol and substance abuse were a major hindrance to male students’ enrolment in secondary schools in Kirinyaga County.
Dr Wamichwe clearly reveals that despite the misleading fallacy that the county is dominated by wealthy families, poverty and low income among a majority of households have continued to negatively affect transition of the male learners from primary to secondary school.
After learning that Illicit brews were consumed by both the truants and household heads, the scholar suggested that to curb the menace, education stakeholders need to urgently come together to find out why more and more young people were being attracted to production and consumption of illicit brews instead of attending school.
Before embarking on the study, Dr. Wamichwe had noticed that male student enrolment in secondary schools was declining considering the high numbers in primary schools.
In the study, more than 6,300 who had progressed to secondary school from over 190 primary schools were interviewed, with students being traced from their homesteads, schools and their places of work.
Household incomes, parental education, parental occupation, availability of adult and youth based activities, lack of education resources and distance from school emerged to have influenced enrolment.
Since 2012, research by other scholars had noted the decline of enrolment of boys, as the girl-child is given more priority. Prospective secondary school students were found to be leaving school to join illegal groups, some of whom engaged in illicit alcohol, substance abuse and criminal activities.
The study revealed that the dropout rates and general abandonment of secondary education by male students had been worsened by the fact that fathers, rather than be role models, also engaged in hours of alcohol consumption.
The neglect has left the boy child to cope with life all by himself.
Dr. Wamichwe found that parents and guardians were hugely to blame for failing to be the foremost caretakers.
“The parent, being the primary caretaker, plays a very crucial role in child enrolment by offering guidance and resources required at school. In a situation where the household is the consumer of illicit alcohol or drugs, the funds meant for education end up being spent there,” Dr. Wamichwe noted.
He observed that most often, a drunk parent or guardian may not be in the right mental state to improve financial income and meet education obligations.
Exposure to alcohol among male secondary students, the researcher found, affected their participation in learning and led to absenteeism and eventual drop out, especially when they are caught breaking school rules due to poor judgment.
Some students were also known to misappropriate their school fees and pocket money on their vices, leading to frustration and eventual dropout from school.
Low levels of employment among form four and college leavers disillusioned the boy child who sees no reason to go to school if their predecessors had nothing to show for their education. This also impresses upon the community that they are wasting their money on education when eventually there is no gainful employment.
“This scenario sends the wrong signal to the aspiring student who may be demotivated to remain in school, leading to dropout and effectually, the general low enrolment,” said Dr. Wamichwe.
Family incomes, it emerged, also largely affected enrolment and completion of education by the boy child. Higher household income and multiple income sources of household head increased probability of male student remaining in school.
Further, the managerial skills of head teachers and distance of school from home had positive influence on enrolment and retention of the boy child in school. The further the school, the less likely the boys will like it.
At the same time, poor grades scored in national examinations inclined boys to avoid or even abandon secondary education.
Other factors affecting enrolment include the levels of education of parents, where the less educated parents were more likely to give too much leeway to their truant children.
The researcher recommends that households should be made aware of the importance of boy child education through compulsory education meetings at the county level, while the heads of schools should come up with strategies to promote transition and completion rates among boys in secondary school.
School managements, he said, also need to launch forums to motivate boys to pursue their secondary education to completion through the involvement of guidance and counselling experts.
There is also need to form boy-child welfare schemes to highlight the negative impact of drugs and alcohol, especially through seminars, workshops and mentorship forums.
He suggests a total ban of child labour and intensification of campaigns against narcotics, drugs and illicit alcohol.
Promotion of protectionist policies that target the boy child are other measures, as well as improving environmental conditions. Such could be accomplished through a partnership of all stakeholders from the national to county levels and non-state actors.
