ASSESSMENT OF PARENTAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS GIRL CHILD EDUCATION

Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

The girl child education has become a major issue in most developing countries especially in Nigeria in which Lagos State belongs. In Nigerian culture, there is the belief that women are second class citizens. Women are traditionally believed to be weaker sex and therefore need the support and protection of men. Many parents have the attitude that educating girls is a waste of time and money because they will eventually be married out and their education would only profit their husbands and their families. Furthermore, parents believe that boys will become the breadwinners of their families and consequently must be educationally empowered for the task ahead. Girls were considered a risk to educate because they were vulnerable to physical and sexual harassment.

The preference for male children is one of the major causes of high fertility in most countries of Africa (Isiugo-Abanihe, 1994). The preference for a particular sex derives from the perceived value or benefits of that particular sex to parents. In many parts of Nigeria, male children are valued for their role in retaining or perpetuating family name, staying permanently in or near family compound or residence, provision of old-age security and serving as a source of defense and social prestige to parents. When young, male children render assistance to their parents in terms of helping on the farm, in their businesses, running errands and, to a lesser extent, performing some household chores. On the other hand, female children particularly assist their mothers in a range of household chores including cooking, washing plates and clothes, sweeping and cleaning house as well as baby minding (Edewor, 2001).

Parents’ perceptions of these benefits of male and female children influence their fertility attitudes and preferences as well as actual fertility. The preference for sons causes parents to have many children in the bid to have at least a son to perpetuate family name and also to inherit family property (Edewor, 2001).

Aside from these, in many developing countries, girls are withdrawn from schools at puberty, for fear of unwanted pregnancy, and are married off early to husbands they do not necessarily want (Muller, 2000). This gender discrimination in education is not limited to the less developed countries of Africa. In some parts of Asia, as in China, many peasants still hold son preference value.

According to Ekejiuba (2011), the issue of poverty has further aggravated the situation of girls’ lack of access to education because some parents when faced with scare resources choose to educate boys rather than girls. These traditional beliefs and parental poverty have been found to foster negative attitudes which limit parents support for girl child education. Other hindrances to girl child education in Nigeria according to Olomukoro and Omiunu (2011) includes cultural inhibitions, erroneous interpretations of religious injunctions, traditional practices, early betrothal of girls in marriage, gender insensitivity to educational environments, societal preference for the male child and over burdening of the girl-child with household chores and labour.

Education is a fundamental right for all including girls and women. Women according to UNESCO (2007) through education could contribute to the improvement in the standards of living not only to their immediate families but to the society in general. Girls’ education does not only empower girls, but it is the best investment in national development. The UNICEF document emphasized that education helps the girl to be self confident, participate effectively in the society and protect them from HIV/AIDS and other sexual exploitations. It further asserts that girl’s education also helps in reducing children and maternal mortality rate and controlling diseases and improving health status. The realization of the need for education for all segments of the world’s population has intensified global attention to education for all.

Thus, concerted efforts are being put in place by governments and other interest groups on girl child education. In Nigeria, the National Policy on Education (2004) clearly stated that equal educational opportunities should be given to every Nigerian child irrespective of gender or location of the recipient.

The Pan African conference on the education of girl child marked a mile stone in meeting challenges of achieving education for all in 21st century. Drawing strength from Pan African conference on the education of girl child, the National task force on girl child education was inaugurated on 28th October 1993 under the umbrella of the National Women Commission(NWC) now federal ministry of women affairs and youth development. Similarly, the UBE was inaugurated in 1999 which geared toward the provision of compulsory education to all Nigerian children. Currently, the Girls’ Education Project (GEP) which was launched in December 2004 in partnership with UNICEF has recorded tremendous gains in girl child education as well. The question begging for answers is; have parents responded favorably to these invitations of girl child education? The answer is not a laudable one as literature has that despite these notable and encouraging efforts made by the international communities, government, civil societies, gender movements among others there seems not to be yet a dramatic positive attitudes of parents towards girls’ education in Nigeria as female children remain marginalized educationally.

In affirmative to this, Nwankwo (2007) submitted that preference is still given to the schooling of boys to that of girls in many families. To some families, he further noted, they see little or no point spending their money educating women since they are often considered other people’s property. Thus, it is believed that there is no need to make sacrifices to send the girl child to school. Hence, this study seeks to assess parents’ attitude towards girl child education.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Societal development requires the joint efforts of males and females. Development in essence creates equal opportunity for all irrespective of age or gender. However, in as much as girls and boys are regarded as equals during infancy, there is a tendency for some sort of disparity or what is generally known as gender gap to develop as they grow up. That women are active partners in the development of any society is a fact that cannot be taken for granted. It is saddening, however, to note that more than twenty years after the Beijing commitment to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, millions of children, especially girls, are still perceived as not making it into school, despite a concerted international effort to champion the cause. In Nigeria the gender gap is even believed to be widening and discrimination continues to permeate the educational systems (Oleribe, 2007).

Even though educating girls has been repeatedly shown to have several benefits such as increasing their self-esteem, increasing their influence over their own lives and family and community decisions, lowering fertility, improving maternal and child health, and helping in decreasing environmental degradation, however, considerable resistance still exists in developing countries with regard to educating girls. When the girl child is not educated or empowered, a number of negative outcomes predictably follow.

In the urban centers especially in Lagos metropolis, girls are observed to be the ones frequently engaging in petty trading such as hawking pure water, groundnut, garden egg, bread and so on during school period in order to make extra income for the family. Many parents find that the opportunity cost of education is too high. Therefore, the income from such activities contributes towards raising the family’s standard of living. Worst still, girls have been the victims of neglect as a result of cultural practices and traditional norms. There are still some cultural practices such as early girl marriage and girl initiation which aimed at preparing them for woman hood and marriage at the expense of their formal education. Such aforementioned facts make people to cast doubts on whether parents still hold to their culture and social status with regards to educating their girl child even when education through UBE has been made free and compulsory to all in Nigeria. This paper is therefore aimed at investigating current parental attitudes towards girl child education. Hence, this study seeks to assess parents’ attitude towards girl child education in Badagry Local Government Area of Lagos State.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The general objective of this study is to explore parents’ attitude towards girl child education in Badagry Local Government Area of Lagos State.

Other specific objectives are:

1. To examine the influence of cultural believes on girl child education in Nigeria
2. To find out the influence of poverty in the attitude of parents towards girl child education.
3. To check for the relative influence of religions on girl child education.
4. To investigate the challenges of girl-child education in Nigeria
5. To account for the roles of government in girl-child education in Nigeria.