The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the educational experiences of young Maasai women in Kajiado District, Kenya. Despite the many difficult circumstances impacting their education, the young Maasai women in Kenyan high schools are striving to excel against all odds. They come from rural, Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) of Kenya where pastoralism is practiced. The study privileges these Maasai women' voices, which are a cry for help in improving their educational conditions.
This study was a phenomenological case study. The participants for the study were in two categories: secondary/ high school students drawn from Enoomatasiani Girls Secondary School and key informants working as government and civil society education officers in Kajiado District, totaling to twenty (20) participants. Data were collected using both secondary and primary sources including: interviews, focus group, observation and document analysis. Data were organized, coded, categorized and analyzed using themes to make deductions, and interpretations.
This study found that the education of young Maasai women was influenced by socio-cultural factors in Kajiado District. They are: out-of-school factors and in-school factors which included: environmental factors including nomadic lifestyle, Female Genital Mutilation/ Cutting (FGM/C), early marriage and early pregnancy. In school, young Maasai women suffered home sickness, had to make a tough choice of remaining in school, fear of examinations, math and sciences as challenging subjects, learning in rescue centres, and inadequate learning resources. Athough not all of the above factors are unique to the Maasai women, specific issues concerning nomadic lifestyle and rescue centers for girls are distinctive to this group.
The study revealed that being in school for young Maasai women had different meanings for them. While some were in school to escape early marriage, poverty and to learn some skills, others wanted to gain respect in society as women. Basically, the major objectives of remaining in school included: social, educational (knowledge), economic, and political reasons. High school participants felt that the future of a woman in education would remain miserable, if they failed to recognize it as a form of empowerment. Therefore, in order to claim education, participants had to fight for gender equity. They learned to say not to those factors that obstruct access to education.They had to become the solution to their own problems while embracing new opportunities. Generally, the study found that education is very important to the study participants. Therefore, families do not need to educate the boys only.
Based on the study findings, I recommend that the Ministry of Education needs to device ways and means of achieving gender equity in the ASAL regions in Kenya. Additionally, the government needs to reinforce laws that criminalize the practice of forcing under-age girls into early marriage. In order to retain young Maasai women in school, parents and relatives should stop the practice of early marriage.
Suggestions made for further study include carrying out a similar study in another district where pastoral communities are found in Kenya for purposes of comparison. Further, expanded research needs to be carried out incorporating parents, students, education officers and the civil society.