4.4. THEMES AND CATEGORIES REGARDING HOW GIRLS’ PARTICIPATION CAN BE
4.4.2. CURRICULA ISSUES
In the questionnaire responses and focus group discussion renderings, the participants also indicated that more girls could be enhanced to learn Geography as their specialisation if the root cause of the phenomenon was addressed by looking into the following curricula issues.
88 4.4.2.1. Subject combinations in high school
Further discussion during the focus group discussions emphasised that the origin of the problem was founded in high schools, where girls were offered subject combinations that were not compatible to those that were undertaken in colleges. One of the participants stated:
I feel that the problem does not begin here at college. It begins with wrong streaming in high schools where Geography is made a supporting subject in the curriculum and fewer girls get the opportunity to do it... it is blocked with subjects that are mismatched to it and do not allow the students to continue with it to college level. They should not be made to do Geography with subjects that it will not be compatible with in college.
Another participant added:
The teachers in the schools should motivate the students to do the right subject combinations. The classes should be streamed accordingly; especially for the girl child.
...they should not be made to do Geography with subjects that it will not be compatible with in college...
Furthermore, the participants indicated that they felt the teachers in the schools lacked knowledge on the subject combinations in the institutions of higher learning and the career guidance officers who have better knowledge of subject combinations in colleges and universities should step in to help solve the existing problem.
One of the participants stated in the focus group discussion:
The career guidance officers should teach the teachers in schools about subject combinations in colleges and universities.
The participants expressed in their questionnaire responses and focus group discussions that to find ways to enhance more girls to learn Geography as their component of specialisation one had to address the core of the issue. The participants largely felt that Geography was devalued in high school where its versatility and significance were not realised, and consequently it was not accorded its due recognition. The participants noted that in high school Geography was used as a
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supporting subject for other subject which resulted in its being learnt in combinations that rendered it useless to school leavers because of its being a misfit in those combinations. They suggested ignorance of the versatility of Geography as the key cause for this failure to match Geography with suitable subjects. The participants suggested that more girls would be encouraged to learn Geography if career guidance officers helped with structuring the subject combinations in the schools and ensured that Geography was taken with the relevant subject combinations.
4.4.2.2. Encourage more girls to do Geography in high school
In the focus group discussion participant suggested that motivating and encouraging girls as early as Form 1 in high school was what could enhance more girls to take up Geography in college. The participants, in the focus group discussion, felt that the girls in high school were neither motivated nor encouraged to learn Geography. They felt that the girls were discouraged by that Geography in high school was ‘looked down upon’ which uninspired the young girls from learning Geography as a subject. One of the participants said:
I think that in the schools the teachers and the administrators should stop thinking that Geography and History are meant for the less brilliant children... this leads to Geography being looked down upon because it is seen as a subject for the less talented students.
The participants indicate that giving Geography its due recognition would enhance more girls to learn Geography. The feeling is that, as Geography is seen as a subject for the less talented students that discourages the students from learning it from high school. Highlighting its importance is what would make the subject more attractive to girls.
Further discussion in the focus group discussions also revealed that what would enhance more girls to learn Geography would be to sensitize them on what they are missing out on when they did not learn Geography. One of the participants suggested:
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I think we should create a Geography society here in the college and then go out to the schools and motivate those learners as to what they will be missing out on if they do not do Geography.
And another said:
We, as Geography teacher trainees are also stakeholders in this matter. When we get to the schools we should also encourage more female students to do Geography.
The participants felt that if the girls were not motivated to learn Geography because they were unaware of its importance and versatility and hence did not know what they were missing out on by not learning Geography. The participants felt that if the young girls were made aware of the versatility of Geography they would appreciate and learn to love it.