| dc.description.abstract | Studies have shown that high level of Parental education of the family, high income and conducive home environment positively influences academic achievement of children. It has also been noted that the girl child is performing poorly in Kisumu Central Sub-County when compared to the boy child. For instance in 2009, from Nyanza Province, only 6 girls were ranked among the top 100 compared to boys who were 26 and there was no girl from Kisumu Central Sub-County while there were 4 boys. Therefore the purpose of this study was to find out the home based, socio-cultural-economic factors on academic achievement of girls in Kisumu Central Sub-County. The study was guided by the following research objectives; to investigate the effect of socio-economic factors on girl child education achievement in primary education, to find out the relationship between socio-cultural factors and girl's academic achievement in primary education, to determine the effects of parental marital status on girl-child academic achievement in primary education, and to establish the effects of parent marital status on girl child academic achievement in primary education. The Pearson's gender relations theory guided the study. The research design that was used is mixed method research survey design. The study population consisted of 1,400 primary school female pupils, parents/guardians of primary school female pupils in Kisumu Central Sub-County. Data collection instruments included questionnaire and interview schedule. Reliability of questionnaires was ensured by internal consistency and reliability co-efficient of r=0.832 was reported. Quantitative data was analyzed through SPSS and descriptive indexes such as a mean and percentage distribution was used to compute the data. Linear regression analysis was used to show the relationship between the variables, while qualitative data was analyzed using thematic framework. According to the major findings, socio-cultural factors such as cultural beliefs in early marriage, gender roles at home, early pregnancies and parents' perception on girl-child education could hamper girl-child academic success. The study also found that socio-economic challenges such as poverty, where the parents could not afford to provide the girl-child with conducive learning environment at home and prompt payment of school levies could also hinder the child's education attainment. It was also established that parents' level of education and marital status had a significant influence on education achievement of the girl-child. In conclusion, several home factors such as socio-cultural and economic factors, parental education background and marital status could affect the child especially the girl-child education achievement. As a recommendation, Girl-child education awareness and sensitization programs should be conducted among the parents to help them understand the need to educate the child regardless of gender. This will also help in changing their perception about girl-child education, which is currently governed by discriminating cultural beliefs and perceptions. The Kenyan government and other development stakeholders should design capacity building policies and programs targeting extremely socio-economically challenged parents, to enable them provide for their children proper education background regardless of their gender. With respect to parental education, parents with poor education background should be encouraged to take part in adult education programs available in their areas to enable them appreciate the value for education and transfer this perception when educating their children. For further studies, the study suggests that a similar study needs to be done in other sub-counties or counties in the country so as to compare with the findings of this study. The study also suggests that in future, when a similar research is to be done it should include the role of parents in academic achievement of their children. | en_US |