CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Â Â Â Â BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Education is the process of transmitting and acquiring information, skills, and attitudes through teaching and learning at home from peers, formal organizations such as schools, and religious bodies in order to resolve individual concerns and make them valuable to themselves and society. It may also be viewed as a process of learning to learn, or as the introduction of young and old into the society’s value system (Habi, 2004). It is a purposeful, systematic, and long-term human endeavor to learn values, attitudes, skills, and behaviors that are compatible with a specific society’s value system (Thomson, 2000). Education is a technique that promotes individuals, communities, and structures in a community to change. It is this distinction that distinguishes the intelligent from the uneducated in society. Education has the power to radically alter individuals and society for improved performance and relevance, regardless of how it is acquired. Education arose from human efforts for survival and enlightenment, according to Ningi (2012). It might be professional or casual. Formal education refers to the process through which people acquire the information and skills they need to operate in their society. The process through which professors train students in courses of study within institutions is referred to as formal education. “The single most crucial factor to development and poverty reduction is education,” she claims. (pg.1). It’s the gap between a life of crushing poverty and the possibility of a complete and secure existence. As a result, it is considered that all nations, male or female, must educate their inhabitants in order to achieve meaningful long-term progress (Pedro, 2007). As a result, there is no denying that education opens the door to a nation’s economic and social prosperity, fueled by a vibrant workforce and well-informed citizens capable of competing and cooperating in the global market. Nigeria as a nation and the Kaduna South Local Government, both in need of sustainable development, believe that meaningful development and progress can only occur when the country’s citizens are well educated and fully equipped to use their education to solve the country’s and the local government’s various and multifaceted problems (Ningi, 2012) . If education is the single most essential key to development and poverty reduction, as well as a transforming instrument for both individuals and society as a whole, then everyone, regardless of sex (gender) or status, has to be educated (Thomson, 2000). Nonetheless, for a long time, this single most important key to development, poverty alleviation, and transformational tool for individual and societal development had been lopsided, because girl-child education, particularly in the northern part of Nigeria, has received second-class attention compared to male-child education (Paul, 2006). One single crucial aspect about education that has been overlooked and neglected in Kaduna South Local Government’s educational sector is the issue of equal educational opportunities for girls and boys (male-child). The researcher believes that the motivation behind the disparity in educational opportunities between male and female children is based on the recipient’s worth rather than the significance of education to the person or society. The issue is not whether the girl-child is not equal to the boy-child in terms of human status, but rather in terms of social role; it is also not whether society tries to honor the girl-child or not (Friend, 2002). The question is whether the girl-child is worth her parents’ and society’s investment in her education. Another issue that has to be addressed is how the education of a girl-child would contribute meaningfully to her immediate family and society as a whole in a culture that is mostly male in nature and practice. If the purpose of education is to develop an individual’s consciousness and comprehension of his surroundings, the question that has to be addressed is why is girls education so restricted? If the above is true, what happens to the girl-child who is denied access to the transformative tool of the individual and society? How will she become aware of and understand her environment, and how will she contribute meaningfully to her immediate family and society in general if she does not understand her environment? . Another point that this study should examine is how equitable educational opportunity may be attained in a largely male-dominated society and culture that views the girl-child as virtually a disposable object or item. According to  Remi (2008), the  society portrays the girl-child as human at birth but less human when it comes to equal educational opportunities? As a teacher and a woman, I believe that the education of the girl-child, who will be the society’s future mother and mentor, is essential for social growth (Udi, 2005). This disparity in educational opportunities between girls and boys is a rejection of the proverb, “Educate a man, and you educate an individual; educate a woman, and you educate a country.” The major aim of this study is to address the problem of uneven educational opportunities for girls and boys in Kaduna South Local Government. As vital as education is for the individual’s and society’s growth and development, the education of the girl-child in most of Nigeria’s northern states, and in Kaduna South Local Government in particular, has faced several problems. While some fathers in Kaduna South argue that both male and female children are deserving of equal educational opportunities, others see the family’s financial investment in the male child as an investment in the family’s future, and educational investment in the girl child as an investment in another man’s family (Isaiah, 2007). Those dads who insist that girls and boys should have similar educational opportunities questioned whether a royal guard is worth the same as a crown prince. The widening disparity in educational opportunities between girls and boys in Kaduna South is a major contributor to the local government’s economic and developmental laggardship, necessitating high-quality study. To a considerable extent, the pursuit of equal educational opportunities for the two is vital to economic independence and individual liberty (Blaire, 2004). A better appreciation of the need of equitable educational opportunities for them would lead to more equality in politics, the economy, and social status, among other things. Female education is regarded as one of the most essential factors in human society’s economic, social, religious, and political growth, on the grounds that a well-informed mother raises a smaller, healthier, and better educated family, as well as being more productive at home and at work (Audu, 2003). Understanding of culture, community, and religion on the importance of girl-child education is an important difficulty that has engulfed the educational sector of Kaduna South Local Government. We meet a variety of academics who have stepped into the field of education to address the issues that prevent girls from receiving an education. This chapter’s major goal is to show how researchers dealt with the subject of variables that hinder girl-child education (Stella, 2001). The purpose of this study is to look at the issues that prevent girls from receiving an education in Kaduna South Local Government. As a result, to bring to light the basic reasons against the elements that militate against equal educational opportunities for girls and boys, with the goal of educating society, culture, and religion on the benefits of providing equal educational opportunities for girls and boys (Bello, 2000). The researcher dared to dip her toe into the educational treasure in order to provide an all-encompassing perspective on the girl-child and equal educational opportunity.Â
1.2Â Â Â Â STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Education serves as a symbol for predicting man’s future and his interaction with society. As a result of the above statement, society, culture, and religion are obligated to guarantee that girls and boys have equal educational opportunities. This is to ensure that both the girl-child and her male counterparts have a deeper sense of their worth as human beings and the value of education as a transforming instrument for both the individual and society. Unfortunately, not all members of society have equal access to this symbol, which foretells man’s future and his relationship with his society (Enoh,2000). The search for gender-responsive planning, programming, and budgeting that will contribute to the promotion of gender equality, equity, and the fulfillment of women’s rights in the education sub-sector is a quest for gender-responsive planning, programming, and budgeting. It comprises determining and reflecting on the actions that are required to close the gender gap in education (Eli, 2003). It is an endeavour to develop enabling educational policies and frameworks that will allow girls to compete with their male counterparts in the pursuit of higher education. Finally, unequal access to educational opportunities for girls and their male counterparts has been a major impediment to girl-child socioeconomic development and empowerment in northern Nigeria and abroad (Joe, 2009). However, the stereotyped roles assigned by colonial, cultural, and religious’morality,’ which emphasizes domestic education for the girl-child, have caused gender lop-sidedness to be sustained in Nigeria, affecting the girl-political child’s and economic empowerment and, by extension, the women’s folk (Isaac, 2007). There is little question that community adoration for the importance of education has been replaced in Kaduna South Local Government, paving the way for the dreadful state of girl-child education. This barrier contributed to the girl-low child’s school enrollment, since she is seen unable to seek formal education in a traditional society (Fred, 206). This study looked into the basic factors that work against equal educational opportunities for girls and boys in Kaduna South Local Government Area, taking into account how socio-cultural factors like gender typecast, negative traditional beliefs, colonial policies, socio-economic, historical, and religious factors affect girl-child education.
