Influence of Early Marriages on Girls’ Retention in Public Secondary Schools in Isiolo County

Abstract

Abstract: Globally, all girls just like boys have a right to be educated so as to maximize their personal development and their contribution to their community and society. The purpose of this study was to find out the influence of early marriages on girls’ retention in public secondary schools, The study was guided by social learning theory by Albert Bandura. Social learning theory states that learning occurs within a social context. The study adopted a mixed methods approach. In other words, the study applied both quantitative and qualitative methods and adopted the concurrent triangulation design. The study was conducted in 20 secondary schools in Isiolo County and the target population of the study comprised of 5701 respondents. The study used simple random sampling. The study sample consisted of 301 respondents. The researcher used questionnaires and interview schedules in this data collection process. Piloting of the was done in 4 schools in Neighboring Meru County where the validity of the instruments was done through the expert judgement of the supervisors while the reliability of the instruments was ascertained using test-retest method and internal consistency of the instruments will be calculated using Cronbachs Alpha where a reliability coefficient of 0.72 was established. Qualitative data was analyzed descriptively and arranged according to the themes while quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version 23 and tables presented in form of percentages, mean and standard deviation. The study established that early marriages influence girl’s retention the study concludes that indeed it has an impact girl’s education to a greater extent and the community around still prefers early marriages of school going girls which has been hindrance to girls completing their education successfully.