Re-Examining Access and Participation: Contribution of Cultural and Socio-Economic Variables in Inhibiting Rural Arid Communities of Kenya to Meet the EFA 2015 Target?

DOI: 10.15580/GJER.2018.4.061518082 The thrust of this paper was to determine the contribution of cultural and socioeconomic variables inhibiting rural and arid communities in meeting the EFA target on education in terms of access and participation in public primary schools in Kenya. The objectives of the study were; to find out the attitudes of teachers, pupils and parents towards education participation and performance and how these attributes are shaped by the culture and social-economic practice of the communities living in Isiolo Central Division, Isiolo County. The study purposively sampled 1 3 public primary schools. From the sampled schools, 6 pupils and 3teachers were selected through simple random sampling to yield 117 respondents. Data was collected using questionnaires for teachers and pupils while interview schedules were used to collect data from parents. Simple descriptive statistics were used to show relationship between variables and presented as percentages, frequency distribution tables and means. The study established that there were multifarious and intertwined cultural and socio-economic variables within communities residing in arid areas which negatively affected access and participation of learners in schools. It is therefore apparent that such communities did not contribute meaningfully to the EFA 2015 target. It is recommended that there is need to sensitize parents and communities to discard socio-cultural practices that prohibit effective participation of girls and boys in education like early marriage for girls and Female Genital Cuffing (FGC) in some communities in Kenya and enforce legislation against the violation of the children’s right to education. In addition, the local community, especially parents, should be involved when implementing projects requiring collaborative efforts. Submitted: 15/06/2018 Accepted: 26/06/2018 Published: 28/06/2018