Education and Status of Women. Factors influencing the Academic Performance of Female Students

Inhaltsangabe oder Einleitung

The main purpose of this study was to explore the factors that influence academic performance of female students in the preparatory schools of Sodo woreda. Besides, it tried to examine the specific objective factors that student characterize,
parental, school facilities on female academic performance. To achieve this objective different basic research questions were raised.

To attain this objective, descriptive survey research method was employed. 248 Students were elected. Students responses were selected based on proportionally stratified sampling considering their grade level. Stratified sampling followed by simple random sampling technique was employed to select the sample female students, purposive sampling technique was used to select the schools and availability sampling method was employed for teachers, school directors and educational office. To gather the necessary data, questionnaires, interview, and FGD and document analysis were used. The gathered information was analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis.

Based on the results of the analysis student characteristic, parents and school related factors such as less invested educational activities, negative parental and community attitude toward female’s education, parents economic status, parents need for their females labor, school facilities, female teachers in schools were considered as reasons for low females' academic performance in preparatory schools.

Thus, it is recommended that schools, Woreda Education office incollaboration with woreda women's affairs office and woreda administrators ought to raise the issue of female education as a main concern of the woreda and thoroughly discuss with the parents and community. Moreover, continuous community awareness should be done at the kebele level about the whole advantage of females' education in the overall development effort. Moreover, the local government and educational authorities, NGOs and the community should work jointly to support female education by facilitating the schools with necessary inputs for female students.