TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION

APPROVAL ii

DEDICATION iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF FIGURES ix

ABBREVIATIONS x

ABSTRACT xi

CHAPTER ONE 1

1.0 Introduction I

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 2

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 4

1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 5

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 5

1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 6

1.5.1 General; 6

1.5.2 Specific; 6

1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 6

1.7 HYPOTHESIS 6

CHAPTER TWO 7

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 Introduction 7

2.2 Indicators ofAcademic Performance 8

2.2.1 Gender Differences in Examination Preparation within Arts Subjects 9

2.2.2 Performance and Understanding in Sciences 10

2.3 Gender roles and responsibilities 12

2.4 Peer Pressure among Students 12

2.5 Natural factors 13

2.5.1 Family Influences 14

2.5.1.1 Maltreatment 14

2.6 Status ofthe Teaching Force 15

V

2.6.1 Student-Teacher Ratio .15

2.6.2 Shortage of Female Personnel 16

2.6.3 Physical Facilities and Instructional Materials 16

2.7 Theoretical Framework 17

CHAPTER THREE 19

3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19

3.1 Research Design 19

3.2 AREA AND POPULATION OF STUDY 19

3.3 SAMPLE SELECTION AND SIZE 19

3.4 DATA COLLECTION METHOD 20

3.5 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS 20

3.6 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE 20

3.7 DATA ANALYSIS 21

3.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 21

3.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS 22

CHAPTER FOUR 23

4.0 PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH FINDINGS

23

4.1 Introduction 23

4.2 THE PROFILE OF THE RESPODENTS 23

CHAPTER FIVE 47

5.0 DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 47

5.1 DISCUSSIONS 47

5.2 CONCLUSION 49

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS 49

5.4 FURTHER RESEARCH 52

REFERENCES 53

APPENDICES 56

APPENDIX A: RESEARCH BUDGET 56

APPENDIX B: TIME FRAME (2008) 57

APPENDIX C: REQUEST FOR PERMISSION 58

vi

APPENDIX D: PICTURES OF SCHOOLS .59

APPENDIX E: MAP SHOWING AREA OF STUDY: TIRIKI EAST DIVISION, HAMISI

DISTRICT, WESTERN KENYA 60

ABSTRACT

The study reveals that participation of the girl child in education is generally low. Girls are more marginalised especially because of the gender roles, inadequate access to resources. Education is not a priority for them; they provide labour in households to subsidize the meagre resources ofthe family. The research was carried out among selected secondary schools in Tiriki East, Division, Hamisi District, Western Province, Kenya; ten schools were selected. The study adopted a descriptive research design and qualitative design and analysis. This was intended to get the whole concept ofthe girl-child’s performance in relation to KCSE. The Study sampled ten institutions. The subjects involved were class teachers and girl students. A sample of90 respondents was used though 60 participated in the study. Questionnaires were administered to two groups that is class teachers and female students.After collecting the questionnaires the information was analysed and edited to create consistency and completeness information obtained from the research was presented and analysed using tables, pie charts and bar graphs.