The Influence of Headteachers’ Motivation Practices on Girls’ Access to Public Primary Education in Garissa Sub-county, Garissa County, Kenya

Abstract

Introduction of Free Primary Education has increased demand for primary education. However, the number of girls’ accessing primary education is still below expectations with the ratio of boys to girls being 5:2 in Garissa Sub-County. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of headteachers’ motivation practices on girls’ access to primary education in Garissa Sub-County, Garissa County, Kenya. The study was guided by the Management Practices and Pearson’s Gender Relations Theories. The study adopted mixed methodology and descriptive research design. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically along the objectives and presented in narrative forms. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation and inferentially using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 23) and presented using tables. The study established that headteachers’ motivation practices influence girls’ access to public primary education. Thus, the study recommends that headteachers need to change their approaches of motivating girls to enroll in schools. School supervision by the headteacher and the Directorate of Quality Assurance and Standards should be enhanced for monitoring to give proper guidance to the headteachers on the need to implement child rights education in their schools.