Over the years, Government of Ghana and Non-Governmental Organizations has implemented a number of policies and interventions aimed at achieving access and quality education which is gender inclusive in basic schools across the country. Some of these policies include School Feeding Programme, Capitation Grant, Free Exercise Books and recently the Free School Uniforms for pupils in Basic Schools among others. Despite these interventions, drop out from school especially among girls at the basic level it still a problem in Ghana. This paper specifically focused on school dropout among girls in basic schools in Ghana; A case study of Tamale Metropolis. The Metropolis was selected for the study because of the demographic characteristics that pose challenges to girls schooling and its accessibility with regards to location. Qualitative method was used to gain an insight into the perceptions and feelings of teachers, parents, out of school girls and girl learners on causes of dropouts among girls. The case study design was used because the researchers wanted to have a clear understanding of why and how girl child school dropout happens. The population of the study comprised of head teachers, teachers, parents, school girls and out of school girls. Purposive sampling was used to select 20 Primary Schools and 10 Junior High Schools from the district whose total enrolment of boys out number girls. Data was collected using interview as main instrument. The study also used secondary data from published dissertations, textbooks, journals and the internet. Several strategies were used to ensure data quality. The findings reveals that parental ignorance on value of girls education, poor parental care, teenage pregnancy, early marriage, poverty, child prostitution, migration of girls to major cities in the south to work as head potters and peer group influence are some of the major reasons why girls drop out of school in Tamale Metropolis. Based on the findings, it has been recommended that Government should roll out programmes to reduce poverty in the country. Scholarships and other incentives should be provided to needy but brilliant girls to enable them stay in school to learn for a brighter future. Sex education and career counselling should be given to girls to help reduce teenage pregnancies. Basic schools should also be encouraged to set up girls clubs to monitor and motivate girls to take their education seriously. Disable and girl friendly infrastructure should be provided in schools to make them safe for girls. Corporal punishment especially canning should be abolished entirely to make schools safer places for girls. Punitive actions should be given to those who marry school girls to serve as deterrent to others. Finally, parents within the metropolis should be sensitized on the value of girls education to enable them support their school girls to stay and learn in school for a brighter future.
Keywords: Basic Education, Dropout among girls, Poverty, Teenage Pregnancy and Girls Education.
