Description:
The aim of the study was to assess the Influence of Sukuma Social Cultural Practice
toward girls’ access to Secondary Education in Buchosa District Council, Mwanza
region-Tanzania. The study adopted mixed method approach anda descriptive survey
design.The targetedpopulation of the study was DEO, teachers, parents and secondary
school students in Buchosa District Council. The purposively sampling was used to get
District Education Officer and parents, simple randomly sampling was used to select
teachers and students. The sample size of the study was219. The study usedquestionnaire
for students, focus group discussionfor parents and teachers, interview for DEO. The
findings reveal that Sukuma social cultural practices negatively affectsgirlson access to
secondary educationwhich lead girls lackaccess and equity to education, girls’ dropout
from school,repetition of classes,low girls school enrollment, lack of time for studying,
little academic aspiration, lateness and absenteeism of students, and downgrading of the
girls in academic performance.It was recommended thatthe government should take stem
measures against parents who force their daughter to be married at the early age instead
of continuing with her studies. Also, the government should provide enough funds to
construct boarding school for girls so that girls cannot walk in long distances and they
cannot burn with home activities which make them dropout and lateness to school which
contributed to poor performance.Additionally,teachers should provide seminars to the
girl-child, parents and the community at large on the importance of girl’s education.