1. KEY FACTORS HINDERING ACCESS TO EDUCATION FOR GIRLS IN KENYA
Poverty, cultural beliefs and practices such as early marriage, female circumcision. Other are HIV/AIDS,
Child labor, Gender based violence and sexual abuse among others. Although these factors affect the
education of boys, girls are more disadvantaged than boys. Other factors such as grade repetition, poor
performance and low self-esteem are also major contributory factors to drop out among girls.
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO TEENAGE PREGNANCY
Several reasons have been given to explain this situation; the break down in traditional family systems,
Influence of the mass media and urbanization as well as the lack of access to information and services
are
just some of the factors. Break down in traditional values and strict social taboos that once regulated
sexual behavior among unmarried youth have broken down and have not been replaced
Lack of access to comprehensive information on sexuality: Adolescents encounter obstacles to
information and services at various levels. While the Ministry of Education acknowledges the need to
provide information on sexuality the lack of access to comprehensive sexuality education in schools
contributes to the negative consequences of sexuality experienced by many young people. Several
organizations currently implement programs that provide young people with information on a range of
issues. These programs are however limited in scope and reach only a small number of students.
Poverty: Poverty and material deprivation have also been found to push girls into activities that expose
them to sexual exploitation and survival sex in exchange for money and food. In such situations, the
young girls are not in a position to negotiate safe sex and are often at risk of pregnancy and STIs
including HIV/AIDS. Several studies have shown that young women exchange sex for money or gifts
Lack of guidance from parents: Problems in parent-child relationships may also alienate adolescents
and encourage them to seek comfort, acceptance and consolation through sexual activity. A study
that looked at Mother Daughter Communication revealed that although girls would have liked to discuss
Sexuality with their parents, most parents were shy and often adopted a controlling approach which did
not work for both parents and teenagers
Influence from media: Exposure to suggestive or explicit media, films and magazines may also influence
adolescent sexual behavior. In recent years, improvement in communication has made access to
information much easier than before. Media has expanded with various FM Radio stations and televisions
channels coming up. Young people have access to these channels of communication and can access
information on a whole range of issues. While this is a positive development, it has also made access to
pornographic material easy.
In Kenya pregnancy related drop out is as old as the school system itself but it is in the last two decades
the Ministry has made significant progress in re-admitting girls who drop out because of pregnancy.