SUPERIOR INSTITUTE OF SCIENCES AND DISTANCE EDUCATION

Department of Education Sciences

Geography course

What are the reasons that girls drop out of achools

Name of the estudanty: Victória Mariano Xavier Rêgo

Student code: 11200127

Beira, June de 2020

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SUPERIOR INSTITUTE OF SCIENCES AND DISTANCE EDUCATION

Department of Education Sciences

Geography course

What are the reasons that girls drop out of achools

Field work to be submitted in the coordination of the

Degree in Geography Teaching at ISCED, referring to
the English course, which is taught by the Tutor. Dr.
Elias Macita.

Name of the estudanty: Victória Mariano Xavier Rêgo

Student code: 11200127

Beira, June de 2020

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Index

CHAPTER I:
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………..4
1.1. Contextualization................................................................................................................4

1.2. Justification.........................................................................................................................4

1.3. Problem description............................................................................................................5

1.4. Description of the objectives...............................................................................................5

1.4.1. General objective.............................................................................................................5

1.4.2. Specific objectives...........................................................................................................5

1.5. Research questions..............................................................................................................5

1.6. Description of the hypotheses.............................................................................................6

1.6.1. Primary hypothesis...........................................................................................................6

1.6.2. Secondary assumptions....................................................................................................6

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FOUNDATION.....................................................................7

2.1. Situation of the girl in Mozambique...................................................................................7

2.2. Economic factors and school dropout for girls...................................................................7

2.3. Cultural factors and school dropout....................................................................................8

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGIES........................................................................................9

3.1. Research Design..................................................................................................................9

3.2. Definition of population and sample.................................................................................10

3.3. Sampling process..............................................................................................................10

3.4. Data collection method.....................................................................................................10

3.5. Qualitative research...........................................................................................................11

CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................12

4.1. Final considerations..........................................................................................................12

4.2. Recommendations.............................................................................................................12

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References bliographics...........................................................................................................13

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Contextualization

The present work of the English course aims to address the school situation of girls in
Mozambique in general, so in the course of it will seek to bring in essence the reasons or
reasons behind the abandonment of students from school life. Concern about dropping out of
school is not just a matter for countries developing countries and Africa in particular. It is
also a concern of the countries developed, although for them it is at the level of secondary
education and not in Primary as is the case in Mozambique, where the obligation is to
complete the 7th class of education.

Since when introducing the concept of Educational Policies, and having as reference that
cultural diversity is a specific issue for each school community, we feel obliged to think of
national policies that enable and encourage the school to think and act locally. It is, so to
speak, to question how the school itself thinks and acts before the cultural issues of the
students she supposedly serves, educating. In this context, the effort is directed towards the
perception of school practices that teachers use in student teaching and learning process.

1.2. Justification

The choice of the present theme is due to the fact that in today's society there is an increase in
the number of premature marriages of girls of school age, a phenomenon that contributes
positively to the abandonment of girls in national schools. The signs that parents and
guardians in Mozambique apparently do not they value the education of the girl seems
evident, considering these episodes.

As says the journalist, the evidence is demonstrated in a preliminary way, by the values
statistical data expressed in the numbers collected by him, regarding the withdrawals
presented schools in the district. The tendency is to present the country in a uniform way, but
the complexity of the current social and cultural factors and relations requires that the global
views of education and gender equality in Mozambique be overcome.

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1.3. Problem description

The issue of school dropout is a reality in our country, so the focus of our work is to try to
understand the factors and reasons behind this dropout, since school dropout is a reality in our
communities and the tendency to keeping students in schools, especially girls, is just a wish
of our government. Given the above arguments, we are concerned to know: What are the
reasons or reasons behind school dropout, particularly for girls in Mozambique?

1.4. Description of the objectives

1.4.1. General objective

 Analyze the reasons or reasons that contribute to girls' school dropout in

Mozambique.

1.4.2. Specific objectives

 Identify the reasons or reasons that contribute to girls' school dropout in Mozambique;
 Describe the reasons or reasons that contribute to girls' school dropout in
Mozambique;
 Characterize the reasons or reasons that contribute to girls' school dropout in
Mozambique.

1.5. Research questions

 Do the strategies for implementing educational policies Mozambicans help to reduce

school dropout?
 Does traditional education in our country prevail over school?
 What activities are carried out by the education sector, with a view to implementation
of educational policies in our country?
 Which indicators to combat school dropout are detectable in the statements of the
interviewees in our country?

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1.6. Description of the hypotheses

1.6.1. Primary hypothesis

 School dropout in our communities is mainly influenced by premature marriages.

1.6.2. Secondary assumptions

 The lack of reliable knowledge of the importance of school by parents has a negative
impact on school achievement in our communities.
 The lifestyle that communities live up to the background of our ancestors has a
positive impact on the cohesion of girls who leave school early.

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CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FOUNDATION

2.1. Situation of the girl in Mozambique

The politicization of gender in Mozambique and the entry of gender equality into the agenda
took place in 1973 with the creation of the Mozambican Women's Organization (OMM)
following the massive participation of women in the war with Portugal and the previous
creation of the Female Detachment (arm FRELIMO armed forces).

The WMO, without a military character, had the function of mobilizing the population and
together with FRELIMO campaigned against cultural practices such as the female initiation
rites, the lobolo and polygamy between 1970 and the first half of the 1980s, so that in the
early 1980s it was supposed to have been eradicated (Arnfred, 2011). These campaigns were
carried out uniformly throughout the country, regardless of the cultural and geographic
context in which they took place.

The political importance of gender issues is notorious in the country, which also has a
ministry where gender is an important factor, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social
Action (MGCAS) with the respective provincial directorates, and which is responsible for
implementing the said Gender Policy. Currently, one of the most relevant issues in
Mozambique with regard to the situation of girls has to do with the high rates of premature
marriage (a topic developed in chapter 2.3.4) with 48% of girls between the ages of 20 and 24
who married before of the 18 (Ministério da Saúde, et al., 2013).

To address this issue, Mozambique has a National Strategy to Combat Premature Marriages
2016-2019 with the general objective of creating an environment favorable to the progressive
reduction of premature marriages and ensuring their prevention and mitigation (Republic of
Mozambique, 2015). There is a strong network of civil society organizations with research
and advocacy work to combat premature marriage in the country.

2.2. Economic factors and school dropout for girls

Poverty and cultural norms can influence both early marriage and low school attendance,
which means that policies that take into account the socioeconomic status of the household
can lead to improvements in education and the age of marriage simultaneously (Psaki, 2015).
Poverty is directly related to gender disparities in education: in low-income countries girls are

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more likely to be out of school than boys while the opposite is happening in high-income
countries, which is more accentuated for young people of secondary school level (UIS, 2018).

As previously mentioned, attendance at secondary school entails costs for families, costs
which are intended to cover the costs of school, material and uniform enrollment, in addition
to the eventual expense of accommodation in the event that the only possibility for young
people to continue their studies be moved to a nearby school.

2.3. Cultural factors and school dropout

Cultural factors group here the relationship between girls' education and family support, the
lack of appreciation of education and the traditional practices of the region, in this case the
initiation rites for women. Of the many factors that may be related to decision-making in
relation to school attendance, there is at least one that concluded that this decision-making
(either by parents or by students themselves) is influenced by the transmission of information
and the distribution of vouchers or other forms of money transfer subject to school
attendance.

The sexual initiation rites appear in this work because they are often referred to as a turning
point in the lives of young adolescents who, after participating in these rites, lose interest in
school attendance, according to the widespread belief and commented on in the interviews
conducted within the scope of this job. During initiation rites, young women are educated to
be sexual experts, instructed in how to seduce and have sex with the male partners they need
to get pregnant.

This description by Signe Arnfred of sexual initiation rites is, in a patriarchal context,
interpreted as female subordination to male sexual pleasure, but the author states that nothing
in her research indicates this is the situation (ARNFRED, 2015).

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CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGIES

3.1. Research Design

In the present research, we found it convenient to use qualitative analysis, as this type of
analysis allows us to capture information and perceptions about the topic in order to provide
greater interaction with the problem in question, in order to make it more explicit for later
achieve the objectives set.

According to Marconi and Lakato (1996) “In order to achieve the objectives and answer the
research questions, it is possible to choose a qualitative research of a descriptive nature,
where a natural situation rich in descriptive data can be developed with a plan open and
flexible focusing on reality in a complex and contextualized way ”. In order to carry out this
research, it was necessary to apply the interview technique because it facilitates data
collection, either individually or in groups, in which the answers to the questions asked can
be written or recorded during the interview.

From the perspective of Marconi and Lakatos (1992). According to Meria (1985) "the
interview is a conference between two people at a previously agreed time and place, or it is a
conversation between two or more interlocutors, in order to obtain certain information".

The interview used in the study, will be the semi-structured interview because the biggest
advantage of this type of interview, is to facilitate the collection of information that possibly
could not be covered in the structured interview guide. According to Marconi and Lakatos
(1999), “in the unstructured interview, the interviewer is free to develop each situation in any
direction. It allows you to explore a question more broadly”.

According to Chalmers (1997), "direct observation produces a firm and objective basis from
which knowledge can be derived". For Marconi and Lakatos (2004), “Observation is a basic
scientific investigation technique used in field research”. Observation uses the senses to
obtain certain aspects of reality and is not only about seeing, but also examining the facts and
phenomena observed. It allowed the perception of the cause directly and in the collection of
data or information. Therefore, the author found it necessary to use this technique, as it
allowed her to see the phenomenon under study in loco, thus allowing to have reliable results
and to have a directive perception of the phenomenon. The direct observation technique will
be used to experience the reality of the study environment, it is important to highlight that we
were present in the daily life of the study population to observe and collect information.

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3.2. Definition of population and sample

According to Gil (1995), "universe or population is a defined set of elements that have certain
characteristics". In this order of idea, the universe of this research will be all history teachers
at SamoraMoisésMachel Secondary School in Beira.

According to Mulenga (2004), he maintains that “the sample is the subset or part of the
statistical units selected from the population for the study, often when it is not possible or
difficult to study the entire population”. The sample of the present research will be
constituted by approximately 8 History teachers, of both sex, 5 male and 3 female, whose
ages are in the age group between 30 and 59 years, all belonging to SamoraMoisés Secondary
School Machel from the city of Beira.

3.3. Sampling process

The sampling process chosen for the study, will be systematic random sampling because it
intends to choose people intentionally or that is to choose the population most likely to
answer questions related to our topic. According to Antunes (2011) "The systematic random
sampling is a process in which the subjects to be included in the sample are selected using a
certain criterion".

3.4. Data collection method

According to Nunes (2009), "depending on the theme, the data collection methods can be
primary or secondary and the choice of the method, will depend on the availability of
secondary data information". In the subject in question, the data collection will be made
through an interview and direct observation, which guaranteed a collection of credible
information, as they will be collected with people who live their day-to-day lives in the
environment under study, will use it ¬ there are also bibliographic methods that consisted of
an analysis of studies already prepared that are related to the theme.

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3.5. Qualitative research

According to Arilda, Schmidt and Godoy (1995), the qualitative research method comprises
three different possibilities for carrying out the research: documentary research, case study
and ethnography. This time it is necessary to emphasize that for the realization of this
research, qualitative research referring to a case study was used.

Documentary research included the study of documents as a possibility for qualitative

research may, at first glance, seem strange, since this type of investigation does not cover all
the basic aspects that identify works of this nature.

Considering, however, that the qualitative approach, as a research exercise, does not present
itself as a rigidly structured proposal, it allows imagination and creativity to lead researchers
to propose works that explore new approaches.

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CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSIONS

4.1. Final considerations

At the end of this work, it was concluded that when we approach school dropout among girls
in school in our communities, it was notable that there are several factors behind them.

As a result of our first conclusion outlined above, the lack of schools EPC in many locations
in our communities is the most notable cause. In our view, this situation destroys all the
government's investment effort in expanding and increasing accessibility of primary
education in Mozambique.

The phenomenon of premature marriages is inscribed in society in a profound and

generalized way, whose mitigation and elimination requires strong and widespread
intervention by the State, taking into account the factors that provide their practice.

4.2. Recommendations

According to the main results found in the course of this work, we present the following
recommendations:

Develop and implement education structures and programs in all schools civic, moral and
sexual behavior of girls and boys, with emphasis on methods of sexual prevention and
protection to prevent early and unwanted pregnancies, as well as how to avoid premature
marriages;

With support from community leaders, listen to the leaders of the initiation rites male and
female, with a view to selecting education teachings tradition and its inclusion in the
disciplines of civic, moral and for the operationalization of the program proposed above.

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