A Qualitative Research On Educational Experiences Of Underprivileged Secondary School Girls In Malawi

Girl child education has been a big challenge in most African countries.Malawi as a country has not been spared from this problem.Though efforts are being made by the government of Malawi and other stakeholders to eradicate the problem,but it seems that girls‘ education is still a problem in Malawi especially among the underprivileged girls.Therefore this prompted the researcher to do a study on underprivileged secondary school girls‘ education by focusing on the underprivileged secondary school girls educational and life experiences looking at their current situation.Challenges these girls face and possible solutions on how these challenges can be overcome.The study was guided by four research questions which are: a.what do underprivileged secondary school girls experience in their daily life? b.what is the underprivileged secondary school girl‘s current educational situation in Malawi? c.What are the factors affecting the underprivileged secondary school girls‘ education in Malawi? d.as well as what can be done to improve underprivileged secondary school girls‘ education in Malawi?Literature review was done by considering African countries which face challenges in girl‘s education.The areas under review included life and educational experiences and challenges girls face in their education.On experience it presented what girls go through from birth and the perception people have on girls,for instance,the urge for girls to work hard in household chores and in the fields in preparation for future roles as hardworking housewives.Literature also reviewed challenges and stakeholder‘s efforts invested in girls‘ education.The study employed qualitative research method and was localized in the central region of Malawi with two selected schools from the region.The sampling was purposive in order to ensure that the researcher has access to the people who were beneficial towards the research as only girls were the subjects to be interviewed.The purpose of the study was to examine the current educational situation for underprivileged secondary school girls in Malawi by looking at their life and educational experiences,challenges and possible solutions to their challenges.Data was collected through semi-structured interview.The findings from the study are thematically arranged into life experiences and the current educational situation of the underprivileged secondary school girls,factors affecting their education,and possible solutions in order to improve girl‘s education experience in Malawi.The findings outlined factors affecting the education for these girls which include being burdened with household chores,poverty,walking long distance from home to school,forced marriages,lack of motivation,sexual harassment,and lack of seriousness among the girls themselves.It also revealed some possible solutions in order to improve girls‘ education status in Malawi.For instance,fees reduction in secondary schools,building more schools and girls‘ hostels to reduce distance for the girls.Provision of more teaching and learning resources in schools and respect of human rights are among other possible solutions to the challenges underprivileged girls face.The study has also outlined a number of recommendations in order to improve the status of girls‘ education in Malawi.Among the recommendations made are: the government should reduce school fees.The government should also assess and register all the NGOs that support girls in their education and also give such organizations areas on where to work.There is also need for community leaders to set some by-laws which will protect girls‘ rights,sensitise parents on the importance of educating girls and review some of their traditional practices.Lastly,girls themselves should have desire of getting educated as some dropout from school despite having support from government and well-wishers.