Volume 6, Issue 1, August 2014, Pages 9–17
Rehema Magesa1, Bakari Verhan2, Mroto Emmanuel3, and Magombola Douglas4
1 Gender & Development and Project Planning & Management Departments, Community Development Training Institute (CDTI) – Tengeru, P.O. Box 1006, Arusha, Tanzania
2 Research and Consultancy Department, Community Development Training Institute- Tengeru, P.O. Box 1006, Arusha, Tanzania
3 Research and Consultancy Department, Community Development Training Institute- Tengeru, P.O. Box 1006, Arusha, Tanzania
4 Research and Consultancy Department, Community Development Training Institute- Tengeru, P.O. Box 1006, Arusha, Tanzania
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
In spite of its usefulness, initiation rituals in Lugurus have been blamed to impede girls' education. In a research conducted in Morogoro rural district between April and June 2011 with the aim of investigating the effects of initiation rituals to primary and secondary school girls, a sample of 74 respondents were involved of which 46 were girls from Mkambarani ward and from both primary and secondary schools. From the research it was found out that girls attend initiation ceremonies as early as they reach puberty be eleven or twelve years. Further it was established that the girls who attend the ceremonies encounter mistreatments, abuse and sometimes they miss their precious school time. Complementing that it was learnt that after the ceremonies, girls change their behavior and thus some of them feel they cannot cope with formal education. As a result of the change of behavior the girls reported dropping out of school to pursue other womanly responsibilities of getting married and having families.
Author Keywords: Ceremonies, Girl, Initiation, Rituals, Education.
Rehema Magesa1, Bakari Verhan2, Mroto Emmanuel3, and Magombola Douglas4
1 Gender & Development and Project Planning & Management Departments, Community Development Training Institute (CDTI) – Tengeru, P.O. Box 1006, Arusha, Tanzania
2 Research and Consultancy Department, Community Development Training Institute- Tengeru, P.O. Box 1006, Arusha, Tanzania
3 Research and Consultancy Department, Community Development Training Institute- Tengeru, P.O. Box 1006, Arusha, Tanzania
4 Research and Consultancy Department, Community Development Training Institute- Tengeru, P.O. Box 1006, Arusha, Tanzania
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
In spite of its usefulness, initiation rituals in Lugurus have been blamed to impede girls' education. In a research conducted in Morogoro rural district between April and June 2011 with the aim of investigating the effects of initiation rituals to primary and secondary school girls, a sample of 74 respondents were involved of which 46 were girls from Mkambarani ward and from both primary and secondary schools. From the research it was found out that girls attend initiation ceremonies as early as they reach puberty be eleven or twelve years. Further it was established that the girls who attend the ceremonies encounter mistreatments, abuse and sometimes they miss their precious school time. Complementing that it was learnt that after the ceremonies, girls change their behavior and thus some of them feel they cannot cope with formal education. As a result of the change of behavior the girls reported dropping out of school to pursue other womanly responsibilities of getting married and having families.
Author Keywords: Ceremonies, Girl, Initiation, Rituals, Education.
How to Cite this Article
Rehema Magesa, Bakari Verhan, Mroto Emmanuel, and Magombola Douglas, “Effects of Initiation Rituals to Primary and Secondary School Girls in Morogoro Rural District,” International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 9–17, August 2014.
