Abstract
The writer examined education in the
context of its availability for the women folk.
The paper also elucidates the problems of women education, and the implications
of poor women education for family responsibility. It was suggested in the paper that for
optimal national development, women who are the first teachers in the family
set up should be provided with adequate and functional education (or literacy). It was argued that provision of functional
education to the women folk would enable them to make additional contributions
towards public life, social, economic, and moral development of the family and
by extension the nation.
Introduction
Education is the process of becoming
critically aware of one’s reality in a manner that leads to effective action
upon it. An educated man/woman
understands his/her world well enough to deal will it effectively. Such men/women if they existed in sufficient
numbers would not leave the absurdities of the present world unchanged. In the opinion of Edukugho (2002) cited in
Imogie (2002), the prosperity of a country depends not on the abundance of its
revenue, nor the strength of its fortifications, but on the number of its
cultivated citizens, men (and women) of education, enlightenment and character.
The Federal government of Nigeria has
adopted education as an instrument per excellence for effecting national
development (NPE, 1998.5). The
implication is that government realizes the importance of education as a
veritable tool for national development.
Thus, the policy guidance of the NPE asserts that:
education
will continue to be highly rated in the national development plans, because
education is the most important instrument of change, as any fundamental change
in the intellectual social outlook of any society has to be preceded by an
educational revolution (NPE, 1998; P.8).
Furthermore, Nigeria government
expressly states in section 18 of the 1999 constitution that:
Government shall direct its policy
towards ensuring that there are equal and adequate educational opportunities at
all levels.
Government shall promote science and
technology
Government shall strive to eradicate
illiteracy; and to this end shall when practicable provide.
Free compulsory and universal primary
education;
Free secondary education
Free university education; and
Free adult literacy programme
Specifically,
the national policy on women section 6.1.3 submits that:
for (the) Nigerian women to enjoy the full benefits of
contemporary living, they require basic education to contribute meaningfully to
the development of the country.
Government shall in this regard increase girls and women’s participation
in education irrespective of their location and circumstances (p.17).
It can be said therefore that the main
focus of government education agenda is to bring about optimal development of
its human resources, which, put in another word, is a viable source of human
capital. This investment however will
not be complete without women education.
According to James Aggrey cited by NCCE (1998), if you educate a man,
you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a family –
i.e. a nation.
Women from time immemorial have been
saddled with many family responsibilities and are traditionally assigned many
roles including custody of children, maintenance of the home, feeding of the
family, and preservation of family health.
Consequent upon those traditional role expectations, they become a
significant factor in socio-economic and political development of a
country. Apart from roles previously
earlier on enumerated for the typical woman, the modern day woman, who is
expected to be a wife, then a mother is, like her traditional counterpart,
expected to play the role of a dutiful home keeper. In playing this role, she is expected to be
capable of handling challenges of modern world of automation and computer. Another challenge before her is that imposed
on her as the first and the last teacher of the child before and after
school. This is especially pertinent
because, she is expected to prepare the child to be able to cope with the
challenges of the contemporary world.
The simple implication of this reality is that the typical contemporary
woman is not likely to play these roles efficiently unless she is fortified
with adequate and functional education.
Women
Education
The home ideally is the first and the
last school of the child and the foundation of his/her socialization with the
mother serving as the first teacher.
Information in Nigeria reveals that women constitute about half the
total population of the country and are also the most vulnerable group to
diseases and economic frustration (FGN/UNICEF, 2001). The 1991 census gave the proportion of women
as 49.7 percent of the over-all national population with 70 percent of this
group being illiterate. Masha (1994)
attributed this high level of illiteracy to culture, religion, economy, early
marriage and general unfavourable attitude expressed towards the education of
women and girls in the country, among other factors.
It could be said that at present the
situation is unhealthy bearing in mind the wide national disparity in the ratio
of male and female enrolment in school. For example, statistical report
(Federal Government of Nigeria and United Nations Children’s Fund, 1997-2001)
shows that on the national level, primary school enrolment ratio for boys and
girls is 94:75. The ratio is almost
twice higher in the northern states where formal female education is accorded
less value (Awgbakwuru, 2000). There is also serious problem in terms of
completion rates of female students. In
the opinion of Agbakwuru (2002), this is particularly low in eight states in
the north. According to Oladunni (1999),
in Nigeria primary school net enrolment ratio is 67 percent boys and 52 percent
girls, while literacy rate for those aged 15 years and above was 67 percent and
47 percent for males and females respectively.
The problems of male/female disparity
in access to education in Nigeria is not restricted to the primary schools,
rather it is almost the same for both secondary and tertiary institutions. For instance, according to the National
Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE)
and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), 1999 statistical data
as cited by UNICEF (2001) it was revealed that out of a total number of about
500,000 students that were admitted in all tertiary institutions in Nigeria, female
enrolment represented only 34 percent.
The imbalance in the number of male and female enrolment is more
pronounced in the Polytechnics and in science and engineering disciplines in
the Universities (NUCHEP, 2004). Hence it could be inferred that a number of
factors as well as some complicated and sensitive problems have in various ways
interacted to delay or frustrate women aspiration for education.
Consequent upon the scenario painted
earlier on, it is postulated that owing to the high level of illiteracy among
women, especially in developing countries (like Nigeria), the political
opportunities extended to them become meaningless since they are not adequately
enlightened to understand simple issues concerning them such as voting rights
and political power (Ugbede, 1997). The
case of an uneducated woman is like that of an ignorant poor farmer, who, in
ignorance, sold his farm land situated on a large deposited of gold to an
estate developer. However, upon its
discovery, the estate developer eventually employed the poor ignorant farmer as
a labourer on the gold-mine. Thus,
it is presumable that the innate potential of the uneducated woman would remain
untapped thereby making her to become intellectually, socially, economically,
psychologically and politically crippled by her ignorance.
Need
for women education
Women empowerment can only be achieved
through the provision of adequate and functional education to the women
folk. This is crucial because no matter
how rich or vast a nation is, without an effective, efficient, adequate and
functional education for all its citizens (men and women) education which is
relevant to its immediate needs, goals and objectives, such a nation would find
it difficult to stand on its own. The
brand of education being advocated is that type of education in which is
embedded the spirit of self realization and all that are needed for the
country’s over all development like mass literacy, economic empowerment etc
(Esere, 2001).
The need for women education is also
informed by the fact that purposeful occupational achievement and satisfaction
is ensured by deep self-awareness and understanding which can only be achieved
through the provision of effective and functional education and/or guidance and
counselling. This, has been noted is
likely to guarantee women empowerment with its root based on women struggle to
improve their status. The empowerment
suggested is such that entails the process of challenging power relations and
of gaining wider control over source of power.
This, however, cannot be achieved without the provision of reasonable
access to formal and functional education to the women folk. This is based on the premise that education
has been adjudged to be a viable instrument of change in the positive direction.
In the spirit of Universal Basic
Education (UBE), provision of formal and functional education is needed for the
women folk, because:
(i)
It would empower them to know and ask
for their rights to education, health, shelter, food clothing etc.
(ii)
It would empower them to fight
against every form of discrimination against their folk, assert themselves
about their right to equal treatment with their men counterpart as bonafide
citizens of this nation, Nigeria.
(iii)
It would enable the women take
decisions and accept responsibilities for taking such decisions concerning
themselves.
(iv)
It would give economic power to the
women and there by enable them to contribute their quota to the economic growth
of the nation.
(v)
It would empower the women
scientifically through exposure to science and technological education for the
challenges of the present technological age and information computer technology
break through unfolding world wide.
(vi)
It would help women to reduce
maternal and infant mortality through improved nutrition, improved child
rearing practice, health care and prevention against killer diseases.
(vii) It
would avail women with the opportunity of participating keenly in the world of
sophisticated politics and governance as enlightened citizens.
Problems
against women education
The bane for women education in
Nigeria is entrenched in the nation’s new national policy on education which
states inter-alia that:
With regards to women education
special efforts will be made by ministries of education and local government
authorities in conjunction with ministries of community development and social
welfare and of information to encourage parents to send their daughters to
school (FGN, 1998, p. 14).
The tacit reference made to women
education in the national policy on education is contained in the primary
education section of the document. It
must be observed here that no further reference was made to the provision of
women education in this all important document on education. Nagees (1995) opined that the absence of a
policy statement on women education as reflected in the National Policy on
Education (NPE), makes the NPE fall short of women expectations and it amounts
to a total disregard for that section of the population in this country.
The plight of women, in terms of education
is further compounded by the negative attitude of parents toward female
education. Some parents are usually
reluctant to send their girl child for formal education especially to higher
levels like their male counterpart.
Another problem closely related to this is the reluctance to acquire
western education and misunderstanding on the part of the girls themselves
about the values of the acquisition of formal education. In education, equity means equal access to
good schooling. According to Ocholi
(2002), geography (in term of location) and families’ relative wealth have been
discovered to also affect equity. For
example, in Nigeria, in the last few years, the regression (toward male-female
education in balance) in basic education is reflected in the fact that the net
enrolment rate of girls in primary school is lower than the female literacy
rate. Ocholi, noted that in 1995, 25.09
percent of girls who should have enrolled in school did not. It was equally observed that in 1995 the
average primary school completion rates for boys and girls were 56.3 percent
and 43.7 percent respectively. Most girls leave school due to inability to pay
cost, among other reasons.
It is however, an open secret today
that Nigeria women are educationally backward when compared with their male
counterparts. According to the 1991
national population census, women alone constitute 49.7% of the overall
population with 70% of this being illiterate.
It has been discovered also that 70% of Nigerian women 35 years and
above are illiterate (Amazigbo in Nagess, 1995). The level of illiteracy is said to be thrice
as high in the rural areas when compared with the urban areas.
Three fundamental barriers have been
identified by Awe (1990) to be responsible for low level of development and
enhancement of women especially for educational advancement. These barriers are;
I. Restricted
access to education
II. Reluctance
to aspire and
III. Resistance
to women advancement within a patriarchal system
Restricted
access to education by women in this country is profoundly rooted in history,
religion, culture, the psychology of self, law, political institution and
social attitudes which interact in several ways to limit women’s access to
formal education when compared with their male counterparts. For example, it has been observed that
Nigerian women are lagging behind their counterparts in developed and some
developing nations due to the late start in educating them. This is caused by
our traditions and culture which are hostile to women. This tradition reduces them to kitchen
manageresses and producers of babies.
Thus, their education ideally, is expected to end in kitchen a condition
which ironically is detested by many parents thereby discouraging their investment
in girl-child education.
Reluctance to aspire is another major
problem against women education. This is
the main manifestation of African wrong socialization which tends to impress
upon the women folk the belief that certain subjects and professions are the
exclusive preserve of men. Our
socialization at the same time confines women to certain roles (e.g. cooking,
baby making, baby nursing, home keeping etc).
This state of affairs is definitely a negation of the scientific
discovery that women are not intellectually inferior to men. This is because of the fact that both males
and females have 42 chromosomes in their genes.
Furthermore, science has revealed that there are no innate biological or
psychological reasons why girls should not do as well as boys if given the
opportunity and if provided with adequate motivation (Oniye, 1993; NCCE, 1998).
Resistance to women advancement within
a patriarchal system is a further manifestation of our cultural practices which
overtly and covertly interact to hinder women advancement especially from
educational viewpoint. This resistance
is further engendered by cultural impediments imposed on women by her
traditional assigned roles of housewife, mother, baby sitter, member of
inferior sex, stereotyped gender victim, among others. Thus, it is stated that
the problem of resistance to women advancement are culture based and they
include those brought about by homework conflict; ignorance on the part of many
parents, erroneous belief that religion is against the provision of sound
formal education to the girl child, gender stereotyping and stigmatization,
socio-economic constraints and poor attitudes of some parent (NCCE, 1998).
It is pertinent to note at this
juncture that the greater access of men in Nigeria to education more than their
women counterparts have very negative consequences on the latter. In fact, it has been observed that this
unwholesome situation is the principal factor that is responsible for the
preponderance of women in lower positions in work organizations and less paid
jobs. For instance, it has been noted by
Oladunni (1999) that Nigerian women are found predominantly in such occupations
as teaching, nursing services, agriculture, small scale food processing,
secretariat duties, clerical duties note counting in banks, cleaners and middle
level professional occupations.
Consequently, it has been opined that majority of them are therefore
poor, impoverished and susceptible to attack by a number of debilitating
diseases such as vesto virginal Fistula (VVF) etc.
Other problems against women education
include the familiar problems in Nigerian education like lack of funds,
inadequate facilities, inadequate manpower, sexual harassment, conflicting
societal role expectations, government policies and lack of political will
power to implement the entire educational programme.
The inferiority complex observable in
Nigerian women can be attributed to the influence of environmental
manipulation. For example, through the
traditional socialization process of the typical African society, women are
made to accept negative self-fulfilling prophecy, stereotyping and
stigmatization that they are members of a weaker sex. At present, the forces which combine to
hamper women education and development in Nigeria could be viewed broadly to
include denial of access to education, early marriage, confinement to solitary
living, subjugation by culture to accept choices forced on them, discrimination
and harassment at work, political disenfranchisement from elective and
political appointment and exposure to cruel mourning rites upon the death of
their husband (Oniye, 2000).
Implications
of lack of women education
The quantity and quality of education
available to Nigeria women will invariably determine the developmental pace of
Nigerian families, children from such homes and the Nigerian nation at
large. It has been noted that what
Nigerian women are today and what they will be tomorrow depend on what plans
Nigeria has for her women. Nigeria is craving for patriotic citizens to develop
her potentials politically, economically, socially and technologically. The actualization of these goals is dependent
on the provision of functional education to the citizenry especially the women
who, as mothers, are the teachers of the child in his/her first and last school
(i.e. home). Thus, unless the mother
herself is adequately enlightened, she cannot inculcate in the child the spirit
and principle of true patriotism- a basic requirement for national development.
According to Ajayi (1995), among the factors militating against the development
of the spirit of true patriotism are:
(i)
Home indiscipline (ii) tribalism
(iii) corruption in public life and (iv) lack of national ideology. It has thus been argued that Nigeria cannot
develop fully without mothers who are patriotic and sincerely committed to the
training of the young ones in the patriotic norms. The spirit of true patriotism advocated a
socio-ethical value which inclines a citizen to the enlightened and legitimate
love of his home, community and native land.
(ii)
Educational
Implication of poor women education
Marital harmony has also been found to
be dependent on academic/intellectual compatibility among the couples. According to Ugbede (1997), marital conflict
is heightened among couples who are educationally incompatible. It was observed that educational difference
between the sexes further aggravate the social and economic differences between
husband and wife. For instance, educated
men now discover to their dismay that their uneducated wives are unable to fit
into their social and public life in the sense that such wives are incapable of
responding to the requirements of their husband’s new ideas, status, and
official positions.
Another implication of the poor
education opportunity for women is involvement in low paying ventures. It has been noted by Oladunni (1999) that
because of societal stereotype and stigmatization on certain professions and
subjects as the exclusive preserve of men and or women most Nigerian women have
been forced into less paid jobs like teaching, nursing services, agriculture,
small scale food processing, secretariat duties, clerical duties, note counting
in banks, cleaners and middle level professional occupations. It was thus submitted that some of the
effects of this is that majority of these women are poor and impoverished. This is critical bearing in mind that there
is a relationship between level of education and poverty with most of the
illiterate women being poorer than the educated counterparts. According to Agbakwuru (2002a) education
equips one with marketable skills thereby lifting the possessor up from the
poverty arena. Essentially, through
education, the individual learns good health habits, principles and practices
which promote healthy living and longevity as well as acquire marketable skills
that confer economic power on the educated.
Another implication of poor women
education is that their lower access to education automatically denies them the
opportunity and power of influencing significantly public policies and
programmes unlike their male counterparts.
It thus implies that women will continue to play second fiddle in the
socio-political and economic scheme of things; they would remain marginalized
and exploited. It can thus be said that
the poor educational opportunity for Nigerian women would rob them of two
things, the ability to positively affect their children’s educational
development and the opportunity to make meaningful contribution to their
socialization process (and by extension the overall national development of the
country).
Conclusion
It is clear from the submission of
this paper that Nigerian women are educationally disadvantaged in terms of
accessibility to formal education, participation in policy formulation and
policy implementation especially in the education sector. It could also be deduced that owing to our
traditional socialization process Nigerian women have been misled into
believing that aspiring for higher educational attainment is insignificant. After all, women education ends in the
kitchen. The problems against women education are many but they could be
summarized under three major headings namely; restricted access to education,
reluctance to aspire and resistance to women advancement within a patriarchal
system.
So many implications are inherent in
the poor state of education of Nigerian women.
These implications include the fact that the average uneducated Nigerian
women would not be able to rise up to the challenges of being a wife and mother
in this age of automation and intellectual advancement. Apart from this, she is equally susceptible
to being employed or engaged in low paying jobs or ventures which would
translate into poor/weak economic base for her and her family. The uneducated woman is not likely to be in
any position to influence decisions, policies and opinion which are likely to
affect her wellbeing and those of her family.
It has also been revealed that with poor educational attainment, the
average Nigeria woman is likely to encounter marital instability as a result of
imminent spousal incompatibility between the educated man and his uneducated or
poorly educated wife. The revelations
contained in this write up imply that professional counselors would have to be
ever alert to combat the negative repercussions of poor education base for
Nigerian women.
Recommendations
If education must serve the society,
it must produce people who carry much more than certificates. It must produce people, both normal and
exceptional ones, with the right types of knowledge, ability and attitude to
put them to work for the good of the society.
It is therefore imperative that in order to improve the educational base
of the typical Nigerian woman and by extension her socio-political and economic
status, government, community leaders, parents, professional guidance
counsellors and other stakeholders should take cognizance of the following
recommendations:
1.
All stakeholders in women affairs and
development should focus on the provision of formal education to women as well
as improve their working conditions while at the same time facilitating their
access to resources like land, credit and technology as a way of reducing
unemployment/ underemployment among women.
2.
The government and other stakeholders
in women affairs and development should strive to create conducive enabling,
socio-political and economic conditions which will discourage early marriage,
societal preference for male children and the traditional belief that the
position of a woman is in the kitchen.
3.
Parents and opinion leaders should
encourage the members of the female sex to be more enterprising in their
educational pursuit as a way of contributing meaningfully to national
development.
4.
Government should be more forthcoming
in terms of women empowerment policy formulation and implementation especially
in term of legislating against obnoxious customs and practices which are
detrimental to women’s optimal functionality and wellbeing, like legislating
against harmful widowhood practices.
5.
Government should fund counselling
centers at all levels of Nigerian education system adequately to enable
counsellors provide all round functional guidance and counselling to parents
and other stakeholders. This is
imperative if all concerned must be assisted to see the female child first as a
human being with all assets capable of immeasurable achievements.
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