Child Wifehood Custom and Inequality in the Formal Education of Rural Girls(Study on the Rurals of Aleshtar City)

Educational inequality has many bases and factors: In this article, which is done with the method of qualitative content analysis (theme analysis), the social and cultural bases in rural areas with tribal culture were analyzed. The research was conducted using a qualitative method and in-depth interviews. The participants of the research were 30 girls under 18 years of age (dropout: who dropped out of school) in 16 rurales in the suburbs of Aleshtar city, who were selected using purposeful sampling. The text of these interviews has been analyzed with thematic analysis method. According to the findings, social, cultural and economic contexts (such as cultural traditions and customs, local and tribal social education, family economy, family headship status, etc.) are the most important factors affecting girls' school dropout in rural areas. Among these factors  the norm of early marriage for girls or in better words “the tradition of  child wifehood ” is the subject of this study in these regions. In other words, the dominant social norms in rural areas require the priority of marriage, family and work over education and school, especially for girls. In fact, the "child wifehood" as a tradition emerged from and influenced by cultural and family contexts, has itself been an effective factor in rural girls dropout.