By HAROLD AYODO
A study released recently shows that boys are dropping out primary school in droves after undergoing circumcision in Igembe district.
In the study titled Drop Out Among Male Pupils in Primary Schools of Igembe District, Kenya, scholars from Chuka University College reveal that the male child in the district is in danger of missing out on the gains of FPE.
The researchers say the annual traditional circumcision/initiation ceremony is now fast overturning gender equivalence in favour of girls.
Normally, the population of boys is higher than their female counterparts in most counties countrywide over several factors. According to the study carried out on 6,455 Standard Eight pupils, boys were dropping out after turning rebellious after undergoing the cut.
Approximately 76.7 per cent of 153 head teachers and 83.3 per cent of 153 guidance and counseling masters said the cut was driving boys out of class.
Most of them either demanded a share of their parent’s property or turned into the lucrative miraa (Cartha endulis) business arguing they were adults. Majority of the male pupils dropped out in class five and six (37.2 per cent), Standard Three and Four (14.8 per cent) and class Seven and Eight (30.1 per cent).
Most of the pupils who drop out end up in employment either as house boys,herdsmen or adopt stealing for survival.
Scholars from Chuka University College who undertook the study now say with this reality, the male child faces a grim future.
Initial studies
According to the study, the cut was responsible for a paltry five boys against 35 girls in a Standard Eight class in Mutuati division.
Another candidate class in the same division recorded 10 boys against 30 girls, which made the scholars institute a research to find the cause.
The drop out rates raised eye brows as initial studies showed that the ratio of boys to girls stood at 1:1 from pre-school to Standard Four.
Chuka University College (CUC) department of education chairman Dr George Muthaa and lecturers Dr David Bururia performed the study.
Other researchers were CUC scholar Eric Mwenda and Burieruri Boys High School principal Misheck M’muturi.
"Majority of the boys who dropped out after the cut claimed they were grown up and had the freedom to engage in their activities of choice," Muthaa says.
Traditionally, boys who undergo initiation are presumed to have crossed over to adulthood and could marry or inherit property of their parents.
The study entailed 6,762 respondents — 6,455 Standard Eight pupils, head teachers (153), guidance and counseling teachers (153) and a district education officer.
The Standard Eight pupils were sampled following their experiences on dropouts and were also older than other pupils in the school. Findings of the research were presented at the recent Educational Management Society of Kenya (EMSK) seminar at Kabarak University.
The theme of the three-day seminar was Resources for Quality Educational Development in Kenya. "The drop out rates of boys in primary schools in Igembe is a real problem and must be addressed urgently," Muthaa says.
During the research, a further 15.8 per cent of boys still in school said they at one time felt like dropping out citing assorted reasons.
"Enticement from friends who had dropped out, lack of basic needs like food and divorce or drunkardness of parents made them think of leaving school," Bururia says.
Drug abuse
Other out of school factors included mistreatment by stepmothers, lack of motivation from parents and not doing well in examinations. "One pupil told us how his father kept telling him to go and look for money like his other age mates," Mwenda told The Standard.
Head teachers also attributed the high drop out rates of the young boys to gross indiscipline citing drug abuse and rebellion. Smoking cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine, heroine, drinking alcohol and excessive chewing of miraa, mainly characterised drug abuse.
"Approximately 93 per cent of head teachers said more boys than girls were dropping out of school," M’muyuri says.
Furthermore, 87 per cent of guidance and counseling teachers in the district agreed with the head teachers compared to 54.3 per cent of pupils."More boys than girls are dropping out to pluck miraa as it is taboo in Meru for girls to climb trees," Bururia says. Girls are also not entitled to inherit the property of their parents and their only way to make it in life is stay in school.
Lure girls
However, the high drop-out of boys who embrace the miraa trade is fast affecting the enrolment of girls in school.
"Boys dropped out and making it in the miraa trade are using the proceeds to lure girls out of school leading to sex and early pregnancy," Mwenda says.
The scholars say the study further revealed that the dropouts acquired a lot of money from miraa trade and bought school girls mobile phones in exchange for sex.
The scholars made a comparable study to Suba District where boys who dropped outused money they got from fishing to lure girls out of school.
