Identifying Factors that Influence Female Students’ Dropout Rate in Senior Secondary Schools in Montserrado County, Liberia

This study aims to determine the Factors that Influence the Dropout Rate of Female Students in Senior Secondary Schools in Montserrado County, Liberia. Four research questions are formulated to guide the study: to identify the extent to which poverty influence the dropout rates of girls in Senior Secondary schools, to examine how domestic labor affected female students’ dropout rate in Senior Secondary Schools, to examine the extent to which parents’ attitude influence female students’ dropout rate in Senior Secondary Schools, and lastly to investigate how the community’s perception of female education affect dropout rates in Senior Secondary schools. A descriptive research design was used to carry out the study. The sample consisted of 4 education officers, 40 students, 20 head teachers, 10 teachers, and 15 parents. The findings revealed that there were several factors that influenced the dropout rate of female students in secondary schools in Montserrado County, ranging from early marriages, initiation rites, the attitudes of parents, and domestic labor. These factors were found to be overwhelming for the girl child. The results also indicate that the school administrators use various methods in handling female students’ dropout rate: guidance and counseling, recommendations for bursary fund fees forms, punishments involving parents in matters of student discipline, and mobilization of community members and well-wishers to pay for the disadvantaged girls in secondary schools. However, the administrators also agreed that more funding and support from the government and well-wishers were needed to reduce the dropout rate of the female students in secondary schools. It was found that poverty was another factor in paying school fees for female students in secondary schools.