Building Education Resilience for Girls in Kenya

Abstract

PCF10 Sub-theme: Building Resilience // Education disruptions caused by poverty, insecurity and negative traditional practices in rural communities in Kenya were escalated by the Covid-19 pandemic when Narok county was reported to be leading in teenage pregnancy. Such a trend would delay achievement of the international Sustainable Development Goal 4 .1 by 2030. The purpose of this study was to investigate the strategies which some students employed to continue learning amidst education disruptions. It was guided by the research questions: What were their experiences in education during Covid-19 pandemic school closure? What made some of them continue learning amidst disruptions while many did not? What do they propose as useful solutions which builds education resilience? Using interview schedules and guided by interpretivist paradigm, voices were captured where 29 girls, 44 boys; later 21 girls and 2 teachers were interviewed to express their perspectives on their experiences during Covid-19 disruptions. Some of the experiences were harassment and lack of learning resources; some suggestions which could build education resilience for inclusive learning were provision of innovative, learning technology tools, libraries, and socio-emotional support groups. // Paper ID 9473