CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Â Â Â Â Â BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
In today’s society, education is regarded as the most important factor to have for successful women empowerment. It improves her capacity to access information, learn new skills, and tolerate change. It also opens up more job options for her. There is empirical evidence that educated women are better at providing for their children’s health, nutritional, and care requirements, have fewer children, and marry later. Women and girls, on the other hand, are expected to fulfill a variety of responsibilities, many of which obstruct their access to, participation in, retention in, and accomplishment in school (Mullu, 2004).
In Africa, particularly in Nigeria, quality education for girls is thought to be quite inadequate. According to statistics from the Department for International Development (DFID, 2007), while girls’ primary school enrollment is improving in most African and Asian nations, 44 million girls remain out of school globally. DFID (2007) lists Nigeria as one of the nations with the largest number of out-of-school females (that is, children of school-going age not enrolled in primary or secondary school). Early marriages, community attitudes regarding girl-child education, and female genital mutilation (FGM) are all variables that have been linked to girls’ lack of access to school (Kagunye, 2004). Violence, gender discrimination in the classroom, and lax enforcement of regulations and laws surrounding corporal punishment, child labor, school charges/fees, and re-entry into school, particularly when females get pregnant, have a negative impact on girls.
In African civilization, factors such as family situations are seen as barriers to girls’ education. All of the domestic activities, including as caring for the children, gathering water and firewood, cooking, farming, and washing, are carried out with the help of the girls. When the mother is unwell or away from home, the girls leave school to help with the household tasks. Because she must assist her mother in the evening, the girl has less time to study. This has a negative impact on her school involvement and success. Absenteeism can lead to low academic achievement, repetition, and eventually dropping out of school, sometimes before the girl has mastered basic literacy. The majority of individuals who reach the conclusion of their educational cycle frequently score badly in their promotion tests, forcing them to leave out (Njenga, 1999).
