GIRL-CHILD EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: ROLE OF FEMALE SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

Abstract

All over the world, children are regarded as the greatest asset any society can possess, hence, they are adored and protected from diverse forms of abuse and neglect. The girl-child, most especially is vulnerable to many societal vices, and she is sometimes denied of the formal education because of some socio-cultural factors which regard the education of the female children as a waste. However, for any country to have a progressive development, the education of the girl-child must be upheld and given a considerable attention, to save the female gender from constant attacks such as physical, physiological, mental and emotional torture and relegation, as a result of the academic oblivion they are made to face. This study therefore seeks to find out how the activities and programmes of the female teachers in the Parent Teachers Association of secondary Schools have been able to impact positively on the girl-child in our Secondary Schools in Nigeria. Bishop Onabanjo High School, Bodija, Ibadan serves as a case-study. A fifteen-item questionnaire is used to answer the two research questions raised. The data collected were analysed in simple percentages. The paper found gender issues in education important, among them are cultural and economic factors. About eight recommendations were made, five of them focus on parents, governments, teachers, media and non-governmental volunteers.