ABSTRACT

In Kenya, boy child secondary education is experiencing emerging challenges which need to be established in order to arrest these worrying trends. This study sought to investigate challenges and their effects on the boy-child education in Kieni East District, Nyeri County. The research drew insight from Feminist Theory and research inspired by Postmodemism point of view which began in 1980s.There was need to carry out the study in order to understand the challenges and their effects on boy child education and come up with strategies of addressing them. The researcher explored why fewer boys than girls transited to secondary schools. The study explores many factors associated with enrolment, access, participation and progress which lie at the individual, household, school and community level and maps out how these factors interact The research explored the effects of the challenges on boy child. This study adopted descriptive survey method in order to answer the objectives and research questions it sought to achieve. The study was carried out among students, parents and teachers in Public Secondary Schools. A total of 156 respondents (84 students, 36 teachers 36 parents) were purposively sampled as subjects of the study. The main research instruments were questionnaires and interview schedule. A pilot study was conducted in one public secondary school which was not included in the actual sample. Data analysis was done using quantitative and qualitative techniques. Data was presented by use of tables, graphs and charts. Percentages and frequencies obtained were used to answer research questions. The challenges identified include drug abuse, lack of guidance and counseling, child labour, poverty, weak family institutions, corporal punishment and negative parental attitude. Other challenges included allure to easy money which led boys to join criminal gangs and to engage in criminal activities. This is as a result of the prevalence of a terror group 'Mungiki' that recruit the youth in large numbers in Kieni East District. The findings revealed that the highest dropout rate among boys was in form three followed by form two. The study recommended that the government through the ministry of education should unite with other stakeholders to sensitize the community on importance of addressing the needs of boys in secondary education. A Framework of readmitting boys who drop out of school is recommended to maximize access, enrolments and participation of boys in education. Guidance and counseling should be enhanced in schools and the boy child should be shielded from harmful practices such as drug abuse and deviant behavior. Parents should be sensitized on the importance of enrolling their children to secondary schools. The government should deal with criminal gangs like 'Mungiki.' The study helped in revealing the extent of the problem facing boy child secondary education thus opening avenues for further in depth study into gender issues in education.