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07030248044CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
One of the major obstacles preventing women's advancement has been identified over time as having insufficient access to education. This happens as a result of gender inequality that starts in the household, when boys are perceived to value education more than girls.However, with the development of technology, it has become clear that educating girls is vital because it has been claimed that women have many potentials and can hold positions of leadership just like males. Despite this conclusion, there is still much that needs to be done to guarantee that the educational system and structure in Nigeria builds the girl child's confidence so she may overcome the cultural stratification that makes her education superfluous.
In general, education focuses on transferring knowledge to students. According to Etesike and Ogugua (2005:181), education refers to the entire process of human learning, including the transfer of knowledge, the development of useful skills, and the training of faculties.They argued that education liberates the mind, enabling one to think beyond what is taught, and that it transmits knowledge and wisdom from one generation to the next.
According to Offorma (2009), the girl-child is the biological female offspring from birth until the age of 18. At this age, a person is not yet a young adult. This time span includes early childhood (0–5 years), primary (6–12 years), and secondary education (12– 18years). The small child is completely in the care of the adult, who may be her parents or guardians as well as older siblings, at this time.According to Offorma (2009), the girl-child is the biological female offspring from birth until the age of 18. At this age, a person is not yet a young adult. This time span includes early childhood (0–5 years), primary (6–12 years), and secondary education (12– 18years). The small child is completely in the care of the adult, who may be her parents or guardians as well as older siblings, at this time (Offorma, 2009).
The status of girls in families and society at large is influenced by both biological and historical factors. To support this assertion, Oyigbenu (2010) noted that custom and culture have always predetermined the fate of girls and women due to their sex, not just in Africa and Nigeria but around the world.Furthermore, according to Oyigbenu (2010:7), this label has been used to excuse societal injustice and prejudice against them. They must maintain silence from sunup to sundown, including those who carry children, hew wood, bring water, and perform strenuous labor. In both the private and public domains of decision-making, they can be seen but not heard.The girl-child remains a commodity to be owned and commoditized due to the inherent standing that is accorded to her by male-defined standards of social behavior. As a result, in most societies, tradition, custom, and the chauvinism of male patriarchy appear to limit the rights of girls.
The aforesaid scenario has the effect of placing the girl child in an inferior position to the male child from birth, endangering her prospects and the scope of her potential for success in life. The domain of formal education is one of the key areas in which this unequal treatment is evident. Girls who are not educated suffer.Hagher (2002) succinctly put it this way: "Without school, no career; without work, no marriage, and no nice clothes." Oyigbenu (2010), who claimed that lack of access to education is truly the end of the world because without it, there is undoubtedly no future for the girl child in the strict sense of full inclusion and participation in the development process, self actualization, self-fulfillment, and personal freedom, supports this position.
The fact that deep self-awareness and comprehension, which can only be attained through the provision of effective and functional education, ensures purposeful professional achievement and fulfillment informs the need to educate girls. According to Oniye (2003), this will probably ensure women's empowerment because it has its roots in women's struggles to advance their standing.The empowerment that is being advocated involves the process of challenging existing power structures and achieving greater control over one's own economic well-being and source of power. However, this cannot be done without giving women in society reasonable access to formal and useful education. This is predicated on the notion that education has been determined to be an effective tool for bringing about positive change (Oniye, 2003; National Policy on Education, 2004).
Given the foregoing, it should be clear that several socio-cultural and socio-economic variables contribute to the widespread perception that girls are not afforded the same educational chances as their male counterparts. For instance, researchers like Oleribe (2002a & 2002b), Oniye (2003), Akufua (2008), and Offorma (2009) have highlighted such aspects as poverty, gender, overburdening girls with obligations, and parents' education levels.Girls between the ages of 6 and 12 tend to be assigned greater duties than boys, according to Amao-Kehinde (2001). Young girls' education time is reduced due to domestic chores (Nwaji, 2011). In order to prepare their daughters for their job in the kitchen, some parents burden their daughters with work that leaves little time for reading, which leads to inequality in the household (Omolewa, 2008). Women have reduced access to education in some regions of the country where female seclusion is practiced because many parents are unwilling to send their daughters to school.
According to Nwankwo (2007), in certain families, boys are still given preference over girls when it comes to attending school. Nwankwo (2007) highlighted that some families see little to no value in investing in the education of women because they are frequently viewed as other people's property. As a result, it is thought that making sacrifices in order to send a girl child to school is not necessary.Given that there are so many women in Nigeria, this actually hinders national progress (Maduewusi, 2001). Nwankwo (2007) also mentioned that women (girls) may occasionally be pulled out of school to make room for the males who are seen as the household's primary earners when parents are unable to handle financial demands.According to Eboh (2001), the girl child is frequently given away in early marriage or removed from school to engage in street hawking, prostitution, or begging in order to combat family poverty. Men constantly want their daughters married off, according to Ezema (2009), so they can utilize the bride price as a problem-solving tool.
In addition to the aforementioned, parents' education levels often have an impact on how they feel about the education of their daughters. According to Lawal (2003), the majority of female kids with educated parents or foster parents are more likely to be encouraged to pursue a Western education than those with less educated parents. This is the case because it is thought that parents who have received an education are more aware of the advantages of educating their daughters than parents who are still unable to see the true value of education outside a cultural or traditional lens.Cultural attitudes and stereotypes tend to make women (especially young girls) feel inferior and encourage them to work in domestic, labor-intensive, and low-paying jobs (Ojobo, 2008). It might not be all that different in Nigeria in general and Anambra State in particular. Anambra state, like many other states in Nigeria, is primarily made up of rural areas, and it is unclear how much the public believes that girls are given the same educational opportunities as boys and what social workers should be doing in this context.
From the foregoing discussion, it should be clear that numerous researchers who have looked into the education of girls tend to suggest that there is a significant disparity between the educational options available to both male and female pupils. However, none of these researchers looked into how to improve the education of girls or the elements that will make girls trust the Nigerian educational system.Hence, this study is seeking to fill the dearth in literature by examining the ways of enhancing girl-child child education as well as the factors that will provide the girl-child with the trust in Nigerian education system with specific reference to Port Harcout girls in Rivers State, Nigeria.
The low trend in female enrollment in Nigerian education is a matter that the entire country takes very seriously. The question of whether women are still a part of the national development team is raised by this unpleasant scenario and the existing low involvement of women in the labor sector.In fact, it poses the question of whether women truly possess the knowledge and intuition necessary to participate in higher education or if there are some esoteric aspects of it that have restricted it to females only. All citizens, regardless of sex, had access to equal educational opportunities under Nigeria's national development plan (1985) and national policy on education (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1998).Despite this, the national education strategy places a strong emphasis on equity across the board. Women continue to make up a very small percentage of students in Nigeria's youth education. The reasons for the gender gap in enrollment in Nigerian universities and the possible countermeasures are currently matters of national and demographic concern.Despite the fact that the government appears to be quite concerned about these concerns, research efforts have not been concentrated on determining the precise reason for the gender gap in enrollment in Nigerian education. Researchers are faced with the difficult task of examining the causes of gender inequality in Nigerian education, especially in light of the fact that concerns relating to gender disparity cannot be effectively addressed without first identifying the primary source of the discrepancy.
In some extreme situations, a girl child is not always included in decision-making, is frequently employed at houses without proper compensation, is retained as a housekeeper, and in some circumstances is not allowed to earn a living for herself and is used as a house girl (Oleribe, 2002a; Oleribe, 2002b). Rarely is a girl child given the freedom to choose for herself. Given that they are denied the necessary empowerment opportunities that education can provide, these scholars have a tendency to think that girls are doomed to living in the shadows of men. As a result, when given the chance to receive good and standard education, the majority of them still do not take it seriously because they have misplaced faith in Nigeria's educational system. It is based on this backdrop that this study seeks to examine ways of enhancing girl-child child education as well as the factors that will provide the girl-child with the trust in Nigerian education system with specific reference to Port Harcourt girls in Rivers State, Nigeria.
Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study is to examine the ways of enhancing girl-child child education as well as the factors that will provide the girl-child with the trust in Nigerian education system with specific reference to Port Harcourt girls in Rivers State, Nigeria. Specific objectives of the study include;
Research Questions
The following research questions have been raised to guide the study;
Research Hypotheses
The following were hypothesized in the study;
H0: The prevailing opinion of people has no significant importance on education for the girl-child among different sexes in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
H1: The prevailing opinion of people has no significant importance on education for the girl-child among different sexes in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
H0: The level of income of respondents has no significant relationshipbetween their opinion towards educating their female children
H1: The level of income of respondents has a significant relationshipbetween their opinion towards educating their female children
Significance of the Study
This work is important from both a theoretical and practical standpoint. Practically, the study may have greatly advanced knowledge by disproving the widespread assumption that boys have greater access to schooling than girls. This is the case because, in the event that the study's findings prove that girls in Port Harcourt do, in fact, have unrestricted access to education, it will follow that Nigeria's educational system fosters a culture of trust and confidence among young girls, dispelling the widespread belief to the contrary.
The results of this study will once more raise the question of whether Port Harcourt is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal 2 (achieving universal basic education for all) target of 2015. This is done by highlighting the degree to which girls in the study area have access to basic education. These results would enable Nigerian government authorities to better understand what has been done and what needs to be done in that area.
It should be noted that this study will offer social workers, policy makers, community members, governmental and non-governmental organizations information on how to handle this issue at the grassroots level by identifying some of the socio-cultural aspects affecting girl child education. This study will also emphasize the advantages of educating girls in order to create a better society for both the present and the future.
The results of this study will also assist the State government and the federal government in determining the structures and things to put in place in order to enhance the education of girl children by identifying the factor that can foster trust among the girl child in adopting the Nigerian educational system.
Theoretically, this study will add to the body of knowledge on educating girls and building trust, with implications for encouraging girls in Port Harcourt to take school seriously.Students and academics who want to conduct additional research on this pressing issue will find this study to be important in equal measure. It is hoped that the results of this study would spark additional scholarly investigations into strategies for improving girl-child education as well as the elements that will give the girl-child confidence in the Nigerian educational system.
Scope of the Study
This study is limited to assessing ways of enhancing girl-child child education as well as the factors that will provide the girl-child with the trust in Nigerian education system in Port Harcourt. This study is dependents on the residents of all the eight local government in Port Harcourt to get the data for this study.
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms
Girl:A biological female offspring between the ages of 0 – 18
Education: This refers to knowledge acquired through learning and instruction especially in a formal (school) setting. It can also be seen as the gradual process of acquiring knowledge.
Trust: Trust is an attitude we have towards people whom we hope will betrustworthy, where trustworthiness is a property not an attitude.
Gender: This refers to the properties that differentiate individuals on the basis of their reproductive roles.
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