Trend And Causes Of Female Students Dropout From Teacher Education Institutions Of Ethiopia: The Case Of Jimma University

This article examines the state of female students’ enrollment and dismissal rate and major factors that cause them to dropout from the higher learning institutions. Data were collected from the drop out students, instructors, gender officers and guidance and counseling office of the University through questionnaires, interview and focus group discussion. Moreover, secondary data were collected from the university registrar. The results of the study reveal that though the enrollment rate of female students increased from time to time there is a wide gap between the two sexes. Moreover, the dismissal rates of female students are greater than males. The major factors that caused female students to be dismissed from the university include harassment, homesickness, lack of assertiveness training, teachers gender insensitivity, absence of special support program, poor time management, anxiety, financial problems lack of proper guidance, and counseling service and department placement without interest. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Ethiopia is one of the poorest and educationally disadvantaged countries in the world. Rose (2003: 1) predicted based on the data of 1993/94 that when the primary gross enrolment ratio was just 30 percent for boys and 19 percent for girls. It was predicted that “in spite of recent enrolment increases, with no other changes to admission rates or to progression rates within the system, by 2008/09 almost twothirds of the school-aged population would still remain out of primary school, and the gender gap would worsen”. The existing literature also reveals unsatisfactory pictures of a stark gender imbalance against females. As Seyoum (1991) indicated, after a long time in 1974 the rate of female enrollment at the tertiary level in the _________________________________________________________________________ * Department of Pedagogy, Jimma University ** Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Addis Ababa University Ethiop. J.. Educ. & Sc. Vol. 5 No. 1 September ,2009 2 country reached only 6 percent. The same study also indicated that the number of graduates in the country over decade that is between 1963 and 1973 was only 6.7 percent. It is very evident that gender issues have received high priority in education policy in Ethiopia since the new government came to power in the early 1990s. A specific objective of the Education and Training Strategy is to use education to change attitudes towards the role of women in development (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia {FDRE}, 2002). This included giving attention to gender issues in curriculum design, placing special emphasis upon the recruitment, training and assignment of female teachers, and giving financial support to raising the participation of women in education. The education of girls was also supported by a number of other government policies such as population and social policy, women’s policy, etc (Rose, 2003) The Women's Policy primarily aims to institutionalize the political, economical, and social rights of women by creating an appropriate structure in government offices and institutions so that the public policies and interventions can be gender-sensitive and can ensure equitable development for all Ethiopian men and women (Transitional Government of Ethiopia {TGE}, 1994). Consistent with the above policy, Article 25 of the new Constitution guarantees all persons equality before the law, and prohibits any discrimination on grounds of gender. In addition, Article 35 reiterates principles of equality of access to economic opportunities, including the right to equality in employment and land ownership ((Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia {FDRE}, 1995). Moreover, a National Education Policy, which aims at raising the enrollment rate and retention of girls, is being developed and implemented. The Ministry of Education is in the process of reviewing the education curricula. In the education sector development program gender is mainstreamed in the different components such as curriculum, teacher training, capacity building and through distance education to enhance the participation and performance of female students at different levels (Transitional Government of Ethiopia {TGE}, 1994) Despite the positive effects of gendersensitive policies, factors that constrain girls’ entry into tertiary educational institutions seem to exert a greater impact on gendered access in the contemporary context than factors that facilitate it. Bookie Kethugisile, et al. (2000) indicates that socio-economic and cultural factors, which inhibit girls' access to education in the primary and secondary levels effectively, cut off their access to tertiary education. They cite factors such as inadequate educational facilities; malebiased or inappropriate curricula; the devaluation of girls' education; teenage pregnancies; financial considerations; early marriages; the timing of girls' initiation ceremonies and psychological, social and cultural barriers that portray women as perpetual minors and which in turn negatively affect girls' and women's perceptions of higher education. Some girls clearly do enter tertiary institutions despite numerous obstacles, but for most girls, the battles to overcome gender impediments and obtain qualifications once they are enrolled continue unabated. They often encounter an institutional culture that has not been transformed and that remains hostile to their gender needs. Within this culture, they either negotiate their specific needs as discretely and unobtrusively as possible, or dropout when the environment makes Trend and causes of Female Students Dropout Wudu M. & Getahun F 3 learning untenable. Their requirements may vary from the need for childcare for parent, the need for women's residences, for safe and accessible transport to and from educational institutions at all hours, to an institutional culture which values women's intellectual capacities and skills (Bookie Kethugisile, et al. 2000). In order to ensure that every girl enjoys her fundamental right to education, different strategies and intervention programs were developed and implemented by the government of Ethiopia through the already established gender machinery. Special effort has been made to bridge the gender gap in development through taking affirmative actions across various ministries and at all levels of education. The ministry of education is taking many measures to improve girls’ enrollment in the higher education. One of the measures is taking affirmative action strategies. As per the strategy, for tertiary level enrollment Ethiopian Higher Education Entrance Qualification Certificate (EHEEQC) grades favor girls. That is for girls the entrance result is lower than their male counterparts. As a result, the number of female students enrolled in higher learning institutions is relatively increasing at an alarming rate. Despite this fact, experiences of the researchers show that the dropout rate of female students in higher learning institutions is so high as compared with their male counterparts. It even exceeds their rate of graduation (Abebayehu, 1998). Here, it seems clear that though the Ministry of Education has tried to increase the enrollment of girls in higher learning institutions, many female students are dropped out from higher learning institutions in each year and in every semester. Thus, the problem of female students’ dropout at tertiary level learning institutions seems worth stressing. To the best knowledge of the researchers, it appears much has not been done to investigate the probable causes to the problem at hand. It is in the light of this problem that the researchers were initiated to undertake this study in the aforementioned area. Thus, the general objective of the study is to assess the trend of female students’ dropout rate and to investigate the major factors that cause female students to dropout from the higher learning institutions. To achieve the above stated objectives, the following research questions are raised • What looks like the state of girls’ enrollment and dropout rate in higher learning institutions of Ethiopia? • What are the factors that cause female students to drop out from higher learning institutions?