Determinants of cattle rustling and nomadic pastrolism on boy Child academic performance in secondary schools of Garrisa sub County

It has been noted in many reports that at the national level, Kenya has virtually attained gender parity in terms of enrolment at both primary and secondary education levels. However, close scrutiny reveals that serious gender disparities in enrolment exist between regions as regards to access, retention, completion, performance and transition. Despite the introduction of Free Primary Education and other interventions, transition rates are still very low, school drop out rates are also still very high. Extensive analysis of data indicates that boy-child is at a higher risk of dropping out of school than girls. The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of cattle rustling and nomadic pastrolism on boy child school drop out in secondary schools, a case of Garissa Sub County. The study adopted the descriptive survey research method, of which primary and secondar data was obtained. The main instruments employed in primary data collection are questionnaires and interview schedule. The findings of this study generated information that may be useful to head teachers, teachers, pupils, parents and other education stake holders to strengthen the implementation of the equal access education programme. The study would also assist the learner to understand the significance for completion of basic education cycle in achievement of universal education. It may also provide education stakeholders with basic information that would assist in stimulating forth debate on best approaches to equal participation, retention and attainment of education in rural public primary schools, thus reducing wastages in education. It will also provided important information to policymakers, school administrators and other education stakeholders in dealing with school dropout and if possible eradicating it. The study uncovered that boys are involved in hazardous conditions predisposing them to a number of health problems including exposure to dangerous weapons. It was also noted that status and size of the families were important in analyzing the relationship between children and their involvement in child labour. Also, children who either dropped out of school or had completed their primary education were now engaged in mining activities. In a nutshell, constraints of resources facing female-headed families were considered to be the push factor that forced children into child labour. The disintegration of the extended family which led to less accountability of the welfare of orphans, by members of the family left orphans to fend for themselves. The study recommends that there is a need to raise the living standard of pastoral communities because with higher incomes it would be unnecessary for children to work in the fields. The government needs to initiate policies that cater to orphans and other vulnerable boy children to avoid dropouts while other stake-holders like NGOs should create awareness and disseminate information with regard to the negative aspects associated with cattle- rustling and other child labour needs to be disseminated to the community. Lastly the community should be fully involved in issues of child protection by abandoning norms and values that endanger the lives of the children, strengthening positive values and providing services to children in difficult circumstance