1

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 THE BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The education provision in Nigeria has been a source of concern to all the stakeholders in the

country. Especially since 2015, the educational sector has been witnessing reduction in budget

allocation. And this has made the provision of education to have reduced significantly. Thus,

making demand for education to have increase significantly. This has made the accessibility to

the education to be very tough. The North Central zone is also witnessing the situations.

According to National Population Census ‘This overview provides information on education in

North-Central Zone of Nigeria, with indicators on attendance at school levels, primary school

completion, and literacy rates. Of school age children (ages 6–16) 33% are Muslims; 13% of

these go to only Qur’an school, which does not provide formal subject teaching. The region’s

performance is better than the national average on primary net attendance and literacy, but

poorer on primary completion and junior secondary school (JSS) net attendance. The gender

disparity in the North-Central is slightly less severe than it is nationally. The learning pyramid

shows the proportion of 6-year-olds likely to attend and complete primary school and to be able

to read a simple sentence by 12 years of age. There is gender disparity on completion of primary

education (female 73%, male 89%) and more students will complete primary education in urban

areas (91%) than rural ones (79%). Despite relatively high school entrance rates, many students

are still illiterate by age 12 (male 48%, female 52%, and rural 45%). Programs to improve

quality education are needed to raise literacy and completion rates.

Women are the indispensible part of a society, their education influence the coming generation.

The development of future generation mainly depends upon the education of women section. So

the education of women is realized to be the most essential part for the development of the

society. It can help every woman to educate their children to be good manager of the family as

well as the active member of the society. The children learn their manners and behaviour at
 2

home and mostly mothers are responsible for cultivating good behaviour in their children .Every

educated woman can run her house well and make it a paradise on earth.Every educated woman

can think well about her future and her aim in life and then choose the appropriate subject which

will be useful to her throughout the life. In a democratic system the position of women is equal

with that of men .Nowadays women are also conscious about their rights and obligations.

Education plays an important role not only in economic development but also in improving

social equity. It enhances the overall quality of human resources within an economy. Better

health and nutrition, improved hygiene, higher child survival rates, and increased health

education and awareness have all been associated with education. More specifically, research has

shown that there is a high relationship between literacy and fertility, lower maternal mortality,

lower infant mortality, and higher nutrition. The benefits and effects of education go beyond the

women and their immediate families and contribute to long term alleviation of poverty in the

society. Creation of an informed citizenry and substantive advances in healthcare and

reproductive services has occurred for access to education. There is increasing consensus in the

international community that education is an important, essential aspect of basic human

development.

Closing the gender gap through access to education has become crucial.Education has become a

source of social stratification more than anything else. Brooks(2015) encapsulates the situation

very vividly. He asserts that less than three decadesago, we had a society stratified by bloodlines.

But now we live in a society stratified by education, and as the information economy matures, we

are learning that it comes with its own brutal barriers to opportunity and ascent. In other words, a

social chasm isopening up between those in educated society and those in uneducated society,

between educated and uneducated individuals, and that vast behavioural differences reflect the

different social norm between the two classes. Not everyone has equal opportunity and access to

education, and women in general have less access than men. Most educational environments are

more often characterized by gender bias, than by gender equity. School policies, curricula,
 3

interaction styles of teachers and students, as well as other characteristics of the school culture

are too often based on gender. Even in higher education positions, the general trend is the higher

the position, the fewer the number of women holding those positions.

Systematic discrimination against women as embedded within the economic, social, political,

and even linguistic structures of our society. Prevailing norms about what women and men do,

and how their activities and roles are to be valued determine the opportunities to which they have

access. Illiteracy is a reflection of social, political, and economic inequality in a society, and to a

lesser extent of limited access to education. On that note,many women to acquire literacy skills

are often not a question of intelligence, but rather of the limited access to literacy programs and

formal schooling.

Discrepancies between males and females in access to schooling, schoolcompletion rates, and

participation in employment opportunities are still more the normin some regions of the world

than others. Contends that despite constituting 50% of the world’s population, women represent

60% of the more than one billion adults who have no access to education. They represent 70% of

the world’sabsolute poor, earn only 10% of the world’s income, and own less than 10% of the

world’s property. Providing a fair and equitable education system, therefore, has political,

economic, and social implications.

Researchers found that when compared with men, women are poorer and have fewer

opportunities to fulfil their educational potentials, and their circumstances are significantly more

difficult in some parts of the world than in others. The World Bank Group (2012) report on Sub-

Saharan Africa (SSA), attests that women’s productivity/potential is hampered by widespread

inequality in education and access to essential services and skills between males and females.

Some staggering regional disparities call for concern. According to United Nations Educational,

Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) statistics, the estimated illiteracy rate for SSA
 4

women for the year 2000 was 39.7%, compared to much lower percentages in the following

regions of the world: America, 7.3%; Oceania, 4.6%; and Europe, 1.3%, respectively.

Women in Nigeria as well as in SSA have been plagued by limited access to education. Disparity

in access to educational opportunity is a pressing gender equity issue in Nigeria. Bush asserts that

there are many possible reasons for this disparity, but there can be little doubt that women are

educationallydisadvantaged and that this represents an enormous waste of human capital.

Studiescontinue to show that women experience gender inequity in salary, employment,

leadership, and politics. Even when women gain more access to education, this does

notnecessarily translate to equal educational and career opportunities. However, a good number

of women have transcended some of the impositions and barriers that impeded their access to

participate in education. It is pertinent to investigate how these women overcame these barriers.

The goal of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the current experiences of

some selected Nigerian women with regard to formal education. In addition, the study attempted

to assess the barriers that hinder gender equity as they relate to access and equal educational

participation in Nigeria.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The provision of education in Nigeria has been dwindling. Government spending on education is

nothing to write home about. And the needs for children to be more educated are arising every

day. And there is significant inequality in gender when it comes to the North Central zone of

Nigeria. The study tends to look into immediate and remote causes of the gender inequality in

the North Central Zone. What are the levels of provision of the education in the zone? And how

accessible are the education to the people of the North Central zone?

It is not new that women are the bedrocks of the sane and stable society. Despite the bias

position of the society on them, the society still relies on women for continuity. The society

progresses at the expenses of the women. Women are regarded as the second class citizens,
 5

despite their enormous contribution to the society. These believe is still extended to educational

sector. Boy child is regarded as the pillar of the family so for that reason, he must enjoy all the

necessary available resources before a girl child. So educating a girl child is a luxury and wasting

of valuable resources.

More so, the cost of schooling is another great impediment to education of female child in the

zone. Most of government own schools are of low standard. And the government schools that are

of modern facilities and qualified teachers are meant for the children of the elites. The private

schools are too expensive for the masses. Another issues, is early marriage of girl child in the

area. It is highly believed that girl child should marry early. So as to give birth to strong babies,

so many at times, girl child marry when she has not finished her secondary.

The gender equity is a process of being fair and just toward both men and women, and showing

no preference to either sex, but equal regard to both sexes. But this is contrary in Nigeria and

North central zone of the country. It is a common phenomenon that the education of a girl child

is always or mostly sacrifices for the education of male child. This has being against the spirit of

the fair play.

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main aim of the study is to ascertain the educational provision and gender inequality in the

North central zone of Nigeria. The objectives of this study is to:

1. Identify the Educational provision in North Central Zone of Nigeria

2. Determine the level of Gender inequality in the North Central Zone of Nigeria

3. Determine the Immediate and remote factors responsible for the gender inequality, in

North Central zone of Nigeria.

4. Identify measures that can be done to breach the gap of the gender inequality in the zone.
 6

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The study will be guided by the following research questions:

1. What is the level of educational provisions in the North central zone of Nigeria?

2. What is the enrolment level of students in the North Central Zone of Nigeria?

3. What is the level of gender inequality in the North Central Zone of Nigeria?

4. What are the causes of gender inequality in the educational sector within North Central

Zone?

5. What are the implications of gender inequality in the North Central Zone of Nigeria?

6. What further steps could be taken to solve these problems in Nigeria educational sector?

1.5 HYPOTHESES

The following hypotheses will be tested at 0.05 level of significance

1. There is no significant difference in the educational attainment between female and male

in North Central Zone of Nigeria

2. There is no significant relationship between educational provision and gender inequality

in North Central Zone of Nigeria

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings from this study will help to highlight those areas where there are problems in

gender issues and their educational backwardness of women and thus will be of great benefit to

the management of government organizations and policy makers. The study work will be of

importance and great benefit to the following.

The ministry of education, the findings from this study would help to further highlight the likely

problems of educational provision in Nigeria to help the ministry of education in deciding on

good policies that will bring about educational provision.

 7

This study will hopefully make the Federal, States and Education Authorities to know the

availability of educational institutions in the zone. More so, it is hoped that the study will bring

out areas of gender inequality in educational sector in order to help the authorities to overcome

challenges to increase female enrolment in educational institutions in the zone and Nigeria at

large.

The study will be of great benefits to the parents and guidance in the sense that, the parents and

guidance will understand the reason why the female education is important.

The study will help other organization such as NGOs and philanthropic organizations who are

interested in educational advancement of the nation. This will enable them to see possible areas

that require women participation in schools and the need for their support and donations to help

break the inequality.

It is hoped that scholars and future researchers carrying out studies in the field of educational

provision and gender inequality or in related areas will find this work useful and the findings

will increase the contribution to the body of knowledge by taking up research work on some

suggested areas recommended for future studies towards the nation’s development at large.

This research work is of importance to individual in schools, communities in which they live,

which will also improve them better. This work or research is designed to show how educational

provision and gender inequality is poorly handled.

Teachers will also find the study useful in schools. It will serve as a guide to the parents in

developing the interest of their children in education. Also the significant is that, the research

will provide solutions to the problems and help the government toprovide educational institutions

to minimize gender problems.

 8

It is also hope that on completion, this study will help to redirect the students in Nigeria schools

and other schools toward absolute acceptance of the spirit of education as a relevant academic

activity with great advantage.

1.7 THEORCTICAL/CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The study shall consider Identity Status Theory which is discussed below:

Identity Status Theory

This theory was developed by a Canadian development psychologist, James Marcia(2012) in his

article entitled Development and Validation of Ego Identity Status which he published in the

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 3, (Rishaquiem, 2017, Wikipedia, 2017).

Identity can be understood as the character that marks off an individual from the rest of the

people which is a combination of an individual’s behaviours, preferences, thoughts, talents and

beliefs (Online English Dictionary, 2015; Goodfriend, 2017). Goodfield presented a number of

questions that guide the identification of an individual’s identity question such as: Do you really

know who you are as a person? What would be your ideal career? What kinds of traits do you

prefer in a life partner? What are your political and religious beliefs? All of these questions relate

to our view of who we are as individuals.

Identity however changes with time periods. For instance, you are probably not the same person

now as you were ten years ago; as a little kid. What you wanted to be when you grew up is not

the same dream you have now? Have your political and religious beliefs evolved over time?

(Goodfriend, 2017).

Marcia conducted a number of interviews and came up with four identity status as follows:
 9

 Diffusion:- This refers to the status of individuals who have not yet experienced a crisis

or made any commitments, not only are they undecided about occupational and

ideological choices, they are likely to show little interest in such matters.

 Foreclosure:- It refers to the status of individuals who have made a commitment but yet

to experience a crisis. This occurs most often when parents, hand down commitments to

their adolescent children usually in an authoritarian way, before adolescents have had a

chance to explore different approaches, ideologies and vocations on their own.

 Moratorium:- Status of individuals who are in the midst of a crisis but whose

commitments are either absent or are only vaguely defined.

 Achievement:- Status of individuals who have undergone a crisis and made a

commitment (Rishaquiem, 2017)

Identity St: Commitment

Achieved Foreclose
Crisis No Crisis

Moratorium Diffused

No Commitment

Source: Identity status theory (2017).

1.8 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study covers educational provision and gender inequality in North Central Zone of Nigeria.

The basis for this study is to show whether there have been any significant difference in the

educational attainment between female and male in the zone or there is significant relationship
 10

between educational provision and gender inequality in the Zone. The study will be limited to

only the North Central zone and it will cover four (4) states out of seven states of the zone.

1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINATIONS OF TERMS

Gender Inequality: this is the unbalanced enrolment of male and female students in the

educational sector of the North Central Zone.

Educational Provision:this is the availability and accessibility of educational resources to the

male and female students in the zone.

Gender Equality: this is equal right, opportunities, and treatment for all genders according to

their respective or equivalent.

 11

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, I discuss the following: the case of Nigeria, Students enrolment and institutions

at all levels from 2010 till date, colonial link to Education Provision or Development, the

structure of education in Nigeria, development of education in Nigeria, universal primary

education movement in Nigeria, educational inequality and stratification, contextual factors

influencing school provision in Nigeria, dimensions of gender inequality in education, the

influence of culture and poverty on gender inequality, family wealth status versus gender

inequality in education, regional inequality in education, empirical review and finally we will

summary the whole work.

2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Nigeria is situated in the West African region and has an estimated population of 162 million

people, making it the country with the highest population in the continent of Africa. Nigeria

gained independence in 1960 following British colonial rule that began in the mid-19 thcentury.

During the colonial era, access to education was limited and educational credentials were used

as instruments to confer power and dominance (Smythe, 1958). However, in the past 50 years,

remarkable progress has been made to increase educational attainment in Nigeria. Soon after

independence in 1960, the federal government initiated several policies and programs to increase

access to education. The first major initiative undertaken by the federal government was the

launching of a nationwide Universal Primary Education (UPE) scheme in September 1976 to

provide tuition-free and universal education to primary school students.

In several ways, many have characterized UPE as an aggressive endeavour that sparked

educational revolution in Nigeria (Bray, 1981) because of the massive increase inenrolment and

the level of government resources disbursed for education. For instance, enrolment of children in
 12

primary school increased from 4.4 million in 1974 to 13.8 million in 1981 (Federal Office of

Statistics, Annual Abstract of Statistics).

This growth in enrolment at the primary level has also been accompanied by expansion of

enrolment at the secondary and tertiary levels as well as increases in the number of institutions at

all levels of education (Csapo, 1983). However, such ambitious and much heralded development

faced immediate failure due to the socio-political atmosphere and because the federal

government was unprepared to manage the high demand for education that followed (Obanya,

2010). Obanya (2010) observed that the system of education in Nigeria at the turn of the 21 st

century was disappointing and as a result education will fail to “play the role of prime mover of

political and socio-economic development” (p. 67) unless drastic changes are introduced to

rectify the systematic structures that inhibit its growth.

2.1.1 Students Enrolment and Institutions at all Levels from 2010 till date

Education in Nigeria is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 15, generally from grades one to

nine. The language of instruction is English. Mandatory school consists of primary and junior

secondary education. Primary school has duration of six years, while lower secondary education

lasts three years. Early education is not mandatory and the participation rates in creches,

nurseries, or kindergartens are below 40 percent. However, both public and private institutions

offer programs for Early Childhood Care and Development Education (ECCDE). In 2018, 7.2

million children in Nigeria were attending early education programs. In the whole country, there

were 81.3 thousand public classrooms for pre-primary education, whereas the classrooms

required were 146.5 thousand, which means that there was a lack of 65.2 thousand classrooms in

Nigeria.
 13

Primary school

At the age of six, official primary education begins, and with it compulsory education. In 2018,

Nigeria counted 22.4 million children enrolled in public elementary schools and 5.5 million in

private schools. Recent data show that the gross enrollment rate in primary schools in Nigeria

stood at 68.3 percent and North-Western states registered the highest figures. Data on the number

of classrooms available in the country show that there was a deficit of over 230 thousand

classrooms. Classes in Nigerian schools are, in fact, quite big. The most recent available data

indicate that an elementary class in Nigeria has 51 pupils on average, with around 100 children

per class in certain states. In Katsina, a state located in the North-West, the average was 101

pupils per class. Indeed, North-Western states record the highest deficit of classrooms in the

whole country.

Secondary school

The official junior secondary education age in Nigeria is ages 12 to 14. In 2018, 6.8 million

students were enrolled in both private and public lower secondary school institutions. The gross

enrollment rate reached 54 percent. This rate shows the enrollment at any age, not only those in

the officially established age groups. Nationwide, there were 13 thousand public schools for over

five million students. Facilities available in schools differed remarkably based on ownership.

Unsurprisingly, private institutions provided more facilities, such as more libraries, computer,

playgrounds, and laboratories. Overall, the completion rate for upper secondary schools in

Nigeria was higher among males, even if figures for both male and female students experienced

an increase over the past years.

Upper-secondary and higher education

The official entrance age to upper-secondary education in Nigeria is age 15, with study duration

being three years. Tertiary or post-secondary education starts at age 18. After lower secondary
 14

school, different forms of upper secondary school might follow. Students can choose a senior

secondary, vocational, technical or business schools. University access requires a minimum score

in different certificates, which can be achieved at the end of upper secondary education. In the

academic year 2018/2019, Nigerian universities counted 1.8 million undergraduate students and

242 thousand postgraduate students. The National Open University of Nigeria is the largest

university in the country in terms of student numbers. The National Open University of Nigeria

is the largest open and distance learning institute on the whole African continent.

Tertiary education

The government has majority control of university education. Tertiary education in Nigeria

consists of Universities (Public and Private), Polytechnics, Monotechnics, and Colleges of

education. The country has a total number of 153 universities registered by NUC among which

federal and state government own 40 and 45 respectively while 68 universities are privately

owned as at August, 2017. According to the Federal Ministry of Education, Nigeria has 43

approved federal universities, 47 approved state universities, 75 approved private universities, 28

approved federal polytechnics, 43 approved state polytechnics, 51 approved private polytechnics,

22 approved federal colleges, 47 approved state colleges and 26 approved private colleges. In

order to increase the number of universities in Nigeria, the Federal Government gave 9 new

private universities their licences in May 2015. The names of the universities that got licenses in

Abuja included, Augustine University, Ilara, Lagos; Chrisland University, Owode, Ogun State;

Christopher University, Mowe, Ogun State; Hallmark University, Ijebu-Itele, Ogun State; Kings

University, Ode-Omu, Osun State; Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, Owhrode, Delta State;

Mountain Top University, Makogi/Oba Ogun state; Ritman University, Ikot-Epene, Akwa- Ibom

State and Summit University, Offa, Kwara State.

The Federal Executive Council of the President MuhammaduBuharigovernment, approved the

establishment of 20 new private universities on February 3rd, 2021 in Nigeria.

 15

First year entry requirements into most universities in Nigeria include: Minimum of SSCE/GCE

Ordinary Level Credits at maximum of two sittings; Minimum cut-off marks score in Joint

Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) entrance examination of 180 and above out of a

maximum of 400 marks are required. Candidates with minimum of Merit Pass in National

Certificate of Education (NCE), National Diploma (ND) and other Advanced Level Certificates

minimum qualifications with minimum of 5 O/L Credits are given direct entry admission into the

appropriate undergraduate degree programs.

Students with required documents typically enter university from age 17-18 onwards and study

for an academic degree. Historically, universities are divided into several tiers.

2.1.2 Colonial Link to Education Provision or Development

From the beginning of its existence, systematic imbalances in the Nigerian educational system

produced regional and gender gaps that have continued decades after independence (Pittin,

1990). Early developments of education from the 19 th century, including access to education and

patterns of distribution, were influenced by ethnicity and region (Aguolu, 1979). For instance

many observers and scholars reported that geographical access that favoured the coastal regions

of the South was a major source of the regional imbalance in education. The coastal areas in

Nigeria as well as other West Africa nations with the longest history of missionary settlements

had more educated elites than the northern parts of the country with remote locations (Aguolu,

1979). Aside from geographic location, the Northern region’s slow acceptance of Western

education due to religious dogmatism that Islam philosophy and beliefs are in conflict with

Westerneducation was also a major contributing factor to the regional disadvantage (Csapo,

1981).

Aguolu (1979) noted that to understand post-independence regional/ethnic imbalance in

education, colonial orientation of education and other historical demographic factors need to be

put in perspective. Prior to Nigeria’s gaining independence in 1960, the British colonial
 16

administration implemented the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates in

1914 that paved way for a centralized governing system. Under British rule, Nigeria was later

split into three regional entities (Southern, Western, and Northern regions) that became self-

governing after 1960 when the country gained independence. However, prior to independence,

these regions were already characterized by ethnic conflict and social divide that were traced to

the British colonial practice of indirect rule (Davis &Kalu-Nwiwu, 20011). The principle of

indirect rule largely adopted by British imperialism involved recognizing local traditional

authorities and giving them expansive autonomous power in order for the colonial administrators

to have less direct leadership roles. As a result, elite indigenous groups also emanated from the

several administrative entities possessing semi-autonomous power of leadership. In addition, the

breeding of indigenous powers fostered sub-divisions of ethnic groups with several languages

and religious orientations that escalated ethnic tensions throughout the country. According to

Davis and Kalu-Nwiwu (20011), Britain's practice of indirect rule in colonial Nigeria

perpetuated separate ethnic and local identities. By using traditional native institutions and

tractable tribal chieftains as their functionaries in exercising the doctrine of indirect rule

fashioned under Frederick Lugard, the colonial administrator, the British sheltered the parochial

political patterns of many ethnic groups.

 17

Figure1. Map of Nigeria

In addition, many have argued that another major direct consequence of the practice of indirect

rule was the regional imbalance in education that persisted after independence (Aguolu, 2010;

Davis &Kalu-Nwiwu, 2011; Peshkin, 2013). The majority ethnic groups are the Igbos, Yorubas,

and Hausas/Fulanis. The Igbos are mostly in the Eastern region, the Yorubas in the Western

region, and the Hausas/Fulanis in the Northern region. While the Igbos and the Yorubas, who

are predominantly Christians, accepted education during the missionary movement of the middle

and late 19th century, the Hausa/Fulani in the Northern region, who are predominantly Muslim,

resisted Christianity and Western education and were supported by the British colonial

leadership (Aguolu, 2010; Clignet& Foster, 2014; Davis &Kalu-Nwiwu, 20011).

Aguolu (2019) traced the origin of the relationship between ethnicity and access to education to

the missionary movement which is widely acknowledged to be critical to the development of

education in Nigeria. Missionary education, which was the primary source of education in the

pre-colonial and colonial era (up to 99% control of education by 1942), gained solid ground in

the Western and Eastern regions before making inroads in the North. As far back as the 1840s,

missionary education had penetrated the Western areas and by 1857 had reached the Eastern
 18

areas, while in the Northern areas such education was largely restricted due to religious factors

(Aguolu, 2009) reinforced by the British policy of indirect rule that gave power to local

authorities to block Christianity and Western education. This restriction in the spread of Western

education in the North created educational imbalances between the North and the South that

persist to the present.

According to Aguolu (2009), the disparity between the North and South in education had

reached an alarming level even before independence; 2 years after World War II in 1947, the

South had 538,391 students in 4,984 primary schools, whereas the North had 70,962 students

in 1,100 primary schools, home to the largest (Hausas and Fulanis) major ethnic groups in

Nigeria. Partly due to the massive regional imbalance in education just after independence in

1960, the federal government was created to undertake a national action to improve education

through a comprehensive universal approach (Peshkin, 2016). Since its creation, the federal

government has implemented targeted educational policies such as admission quotas to help

bridge the gender gap among the regions and ethnicities in Nigeria (Fabunmi, 2019).

2.2 THE STRUCTURE OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

The current structure of education in Nigeria consists of a 9-3-4 system, a slight adjustment from

the post-colonial system of 6-3-3-4 initiated in 1982 (see Figure 2). Both the 6-3-3-4 and 9-3-4

educational programs reflect the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization’s (UNESCO) goals for Education for All by 2015and the United Nations

Millennium Development Goal by 2020. They were also designed to replace the dysfunctional

colonial system of education that was incapable of achieving equity and incremental

development of education in the country (Fabunmi, 2019). This system of education consists of

basic and compulsory 9 years of schooling, including 6 levels at the primary level, 3 levels each

for lower and upper secondary, and 4 years of higher education. Basic education is by law free

and compulsory and covers the first nine years of schooling for students from 6 to 14 years old.
 19

Three additional years for upper secondary schooling is required (but not compulsory) for

children 15 to 18 years old, followed by entry into tertiary schooling. The nation’s educational

policy also supports the provision of infrastructures to promote adult literacy for the adult

population unable to attend school at the regular age. Also, the program supports enrolment of

children in preschool education, although it is not a requirement for enrolment into primary

education. The promotion of early childhood education has gained prominence in Nigeria, as the

government devotes additional resources to help children enrol in pre-primary education to

promote literacy and basic education development at an early age (Uwaifo&Uddin, 2019).

Since independence, the emphasis on education as the main means of achieving development

and national unity is reflected in the record on primary school enrolment. As from 1970 to 2010

primary school enrolment increased by additional 17 million. The oil boom in Nigeria in the

1970s also provided the revenue for increased government expenditure in education (Pinto,

2011). Government investment in education throughout the early reform period improved

infrastructures and made education more appealing to the general public to close any gender

gap. However, this began to reverse as government investment in public education dwindled

and gave rise to a private takeover of education.

 20

Figure 2. The Structure of Education in Nigeria

Although access to primary and secondary schooling is required by law to be open, free,

mandatory, and universal to all children irrespective of gender, de facto gender have continued

due to poor implementation of the law. Hence, so far, the major achievement of national policies

on education in Nigeria is the unprecedented increase in enrolment since independence which at

the same time is accompanied by wide religion and regional inequalities. Women and children

from the northern parts of the country are still more likely to be victims of out-of-school, grade

repetitions, school drop-outs, and over-aged grade entry. As quality of public education further

dwindled, it created the need for private provision of education.

The rise in private school education in Nigeria is a major reflection of the failures of the public

education system in the country. This increasing private takeover of education is also viewed by

scholars and policy makers as contributing to the poor-rich divide. Hence, marginalization that

results from school type has now become part of the debate on educational stratification. The
 21

major focus is how different types of schools reinforce wealth and gender disparity in education.

For instance, in Nigeria, three main types of secondary education exist: technical, commercial,

and grammar schools. Women are overrepresented in the technical and commercial schools

(with vocational focus) known for their low status and lesser economic prospects for graduates.

In contrast, grammar schools that have more academic emphasis that is necessary for enrolment

in tertiary schools have a relatively higher representation of wealthier and male students

(Obasi,2017). In addition, the public and private school dichotomy contributes to inequality. In

Nigeria, there are government supported schools and private schools of varying quality.

Wealthier households enrol their children in the selective government schools and high quality

private schools whereas poorer children are overrepresented in the low quality, poorly funded

government schools and private schools with low quality.

In a study that explored private/public schooling in Nigeria, Tooley, Dixon, and Olaniyan

(2015) found that 71% of schooling in the study sample was private. The authors specifically

looked at schooling situations in poor areas and compared private and public schooling using

quality index measures to determine their effectiveness in promoting education. The most

striking result is that majority of the schools servicing the poor areas in the study sample were

unregistered private schools, with low schooling resources and quality. Out of the 540 schools

in the poor areas, 34.3% were government and 65.7% were private. Of the private schools,

43.1% were unregistered private schools whereas 22.6% were registered private schools. The

authors found mixed results and suggested that more research is needed to obtain conclusive

evidence to determine the effectiveness of private education. So far, the results suggest that

both government and private schooling (registered and unregistered) in poor areas lack

adequate learning resources needed to accomplish success in education. Interestingly,

although private unregistered schools were reported to have poor quality school buildings, all

other learning input measures suggest that they perform at par with government schools. In

fact, private unregistered schools were found to be much better when assessed on the most
 22

important learning process indicator: the presence of a teacher in the classroom. The authors

concluded that government support to both private and public schools is needed to change the

trajectory of education in the country.

2.2.1 Development of Education in Nigeria

The rapid expansion of education, gender equality, educational institution provision and its

social and economic implication in Nigeria makes it a very interesting case study for social

stratification analysis. Education is generally valued in Nigeria because it is viewed as the tool

to success in human capital development and economic progress (Nwagwu, 2011). The

development of universal primary education dates back to the last decade of the colonial era. In

1955, the Westernregional government introduced a universal, tuition-free primary education

scheme to boost education, and soon after the Eastern regional governments followed suit

(Adetoro, 1966). As a result, primary education expanded beyond expectations especially to the

male child, while other educational sectors including higher education also expanded (Adetoro,

2013; Obanya, 2016). To give an example, total enrolment of pupils in primary school in the

entire country in 1946 was 560,000. The first year after the introduction of the scheme, primary

enrolment in the Western region alone increased by 391,891 pupils, far above the government

anticipated increase of 150,000 (Adetoro, 2013).

Total enrolment of pupils in the Western region in the first year was 811,432; by 1963, over one

million pupils in 6,311 (compared to 4,373 in 1954) primary schools were enrolled. A similar

trend in enrolment was observed for the Eastern region after the government introduced the free

universal scheme in 1956 (Adetoro, 2013). These pre-independence achievements in education

set the pace for the growth of education in Nigeria, although it also appears that no lessons were

learned from the mishap that marked the educational sector from this era. The regional

governments were unprepared to manage the level of demand for education that the scheme

generated; hence they were soon faced with administrative and financial difficulties, especially
 23

teacher shortages (Aguolu, 1979; Csapo, 1983). Soon after independence in 1960, the federal

government continued the critical mission of improving education to reduce gender gap and to

achieve socio-economic development in the country. To address the North-South regional

imbalance in education and to ease political tension arising from the Civil War, the federal

government adopted the Universal Primary Education (UPE) scheme in 1976. Although it was

not a compulsory scheme, among the top priorities of the federal government was to use it to

instil “northern catch-up,” to ease ethnic tension, and to improve enrolment in education

(Adetoro, 2013). The upsurge in enrolment immediatelyfollowing the launching of the scheme

generated significant changes in the landscape of education in Nigeria (see Figures 3 and 4 for

enrolment statistics). The UPE scheme is viewed by many as the most successful policy

instrument to solve the problem of equity, as many groups such as women previously excluded

had the opportunity to enrol in school.

In 1980, 4 years after the launching of UPE, federal government public expenditure on

education as a share of total expenditures increased to 18.2% and reached an impressive peak at

24.7% the following year, compared to 16.4% in 1975 prior to the introduction of the UPE

scheme (Geo-Jaja, 2014). However, the 1980s and 1990s displayed a more complex trend due to

the political instability of the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to the suspension of the UPE in

1981 and the sharp drop in oil revenue in the early 1980s (Obanya, 2012; Osili& Long, 2018).

Hence, the share of federal government total expenditure on education declined sharply to 9.6%

in 1982 from 24.7% the previous year and then fell to as low as 1.7% in 1988 (Geo-Jaja, 2014).
 24

Figure 3. Total Enrolment in Primary School in Nigeria, 1970-2010

Figure 4. Primary and Secondary Gross Enrolment Ratio in Nigeria, 1970-2010

In 1999 when Nigeria became a democratic nation after long bouts with military regimes, the

federal government took the challenge of revitalizing universal education, which had been

abandoned during the last two decades of the 20 th century. As soon as they took over, the new

democratic governments adopted education as the primary tool to advance the country’s

socioeconomic development. These efforts resulted in upbeat rhetoric followed by immediate

actions by the governments to reform and revitalize education. The federal government

specifically pronounced that it intended to make Nigeria’s commitment to universal access to

basic education a reality. Hence, in November 1999, Universal Basic Education (UBE) was
 25

launched to help boost access to education and sustain Nigeria’s nascent democracy. The UBE

program was primarily projected to serve as the catalyst for nation building and socioeconomic

development through education of its citizens. Thescheme was intended to revamp the UPE and

improve the country’s social structure. One major feature that distinguished UBE from the UPE

was the extension of the scheme 3 years post-primary, while making primary and junior

secondary education free, universal, and compulsory (although the federal government never

implemented compulsory education due to political factors).

The specific objectives of the UBE as stipulated in the guidelines of the Federal Ministry of

Education included:

i) Developing in the entire citizenry a strong consciousness for education and a

strong commitment to its vigorous promotion.

ii) The provision of free Universal Basic Education for every Nigerian child in

respective of gender of school age children.

iii) Reducing drastically the incidence of drop-out from the formal school system

(through relevance, quality and efficiency).

iv) Catering to the learning needs of young persons who for one reason or another

have had to interrupt their schooling through appropriate forms of complementary

approaches to the provision and promotion of basic education, and

v) Ensuring the acquisition of the appropriate level of literacy, numeracy,

manipulative, communicative, and life skills as well as the ethical, moral and civic

values needed for laying a solid foundation for life-long learning.

The UBE is also considered by scholars and other observers as a stronger national movement

that adheres more firmly (than previous educational policies) to the objectives of the United
 26

Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948. This declaration, which

resulted in several conferences, emphasized that access to education is a right of everyone in

respective of gender. During the Jomtien World Conference on Education for All, Nigeria was a

signatory in the forum where member nations were charged to evaluate their educational goals

and plan towards achieving universal education for all. Other international commitments that

sparked the establishment of UBE include the Delhi E-9 Countries Conference, a forum used to

remind the nine member countries with the highest level of illiteracy in the world to prioritize

eradication of high illiteracy levels with a sense of urgency; the 1991 Ouagadougou Declaration

on Education for women and girls; the 1998 Durban Statement of commitment, a conference

where ministers of education of member African nations met to reaffirm their commitment to

education and development; and the OAU Decade of Education in Africa 1997– 2016. Hence,

UBE was a response to the demands of EFA goals, which projected education as a basic human

right. Moreover, the 1999 constitution also gave priority to education and spelt out the

framework for achieving educational advancement. The constitution stipulates that:

Government shall strive to eradicate illiteracy; and to this end Government shall

as and when practicable provide; free, compulsory and universal primary

education; free secondary education; free university education; and free adult

literacy programme (Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, section

18[3]).

The UBE has been hailed as a more effective scheme to realize the EFA goals and move Nigeria

away from the bottom rank of poor countries in the world. UBE has a broader objective than the

UPE. UBE was intended to be compulsory, in order to give the government more direct control

to address gender and regional disparity in education. By making the first nine years of

schooling for school aged children compulsory, both girls and boys and all social strata have

equal opportunity to education irrespective of region or religious affiliations. The compulsory

nature of the UBE program is also intended to enforce communal participation, including
 27

parental involvement, local commitment, and participation of all levels of government (Obanya,

2012). According to Obanya (2012), the UBE is intended to ensure “complete ownership” by

bringing everybody together to realize education for all citizens (p. 71). Furthermore, the UBE

scheme made provision for the education of the most disadvantaged groups of children,

including the poor, street children, girls, nomadic populations, migrant workers, and people with

disabilities. The UBE also recognized the benefit of early childhood education as the guidelines

stipulated initiatives for achieving early childhood education.

The UBE launching was timely and generated intense interest due to the high level of

enthusiasm in the new democratic state at the turn of the century. However, the caveat according

to Obanya (2012), who was also instrumental in planning the UBE scheme, is that the country as

a whole must ensure the sustainability of the program or it will “become a dream betrayed” (p.

64). The UBE is a more aggressive approach to eradicating illiteracy than previous schemes,

although it also appears that some of the failures of the UPE still beleaguer the UBE scheme

(Aluede, 2016). Some of the factors include lack of adequate planning needed to correspond to

the level of targeted outcomes, inadequate supply of teachers, inaccurate projection of the

population of enrolees, inadequate educational institutions and inadequate financial resources.

Although the UBE program generated increased enrolment, there are indications that the country

continues to suffer from low qualityeducation as millions of children continue to be left out of

school and many others remaining are subject to a severely dilapidated education environment.

The pronouncements of the government both at the state and federal levels since the passage of

UPE and beyond seem to indicate that there is a significant amount of interest in using education

as a tool to secure solid socioeconomic development in the country; however, in reality the stated

objectives have not been matched with sustained actions in terms of investment of resources to

improve education in Nigeria (Obanya, 2012). Education levels in the 21 st century remain low

and disappointing due to neglect and disruptions of the educational sector, and as a result the

country continues to maintain bottom-rank position in most measures of socioeconomic status

 28

(Obanya, 2012). The major consequence of this neglect is that more and more children are now

out of school especially girl child (UNESCO, 2011). According to the UNESCO’s latest report

on education, Nigeria’s out-of-school children’s numbers are on the rise: one million more

children were out of school in 2010 than in 1999.

2.3 UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION MOVEMENT IN NIGERIA

Although education level is low in Nigeria, in recent decades the global community and

individual governments have made concerted efforts to support expansion of access to education

for all gendergroups. The movement towards free universal primary education in Nigeria,

especially in North Central Zone, has allowed educational systems of many states to expand

massively. In recognition that schooling cost is a critical deterrent of school attendance

especially for girl child, many Northern states in Nigeria have adopted tuition-free education

policy as the tool for attracting poor children who otherwise may not consider going to school

due to financial constraints.

The so-called universal primary education scheme is generally viewed as the action plan that

finally endorses the mandate put forward by the United Nation in 1948.

As an international agency with a priority mission of promoting human rights, the United

Nations touts primary education as the primary mechanism for achieving broader human rights.

According to the UN, the right to education is a fundamental human right from which everyone,

irrespective of race, national origin, or gender, should have the full opportunity to benefit. This

right was clearly stated in the 1948 declaration which many developing countries signed on to

after they gained independence:

Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the

elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be

compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally

 29

available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the

basis of merit… (Article 26)

In Nigeria, this movement began during the colonial era when regional government adopted

tuition-free educational policy to attract all gender group to participate in education. When the

federal government implemented UPE in 1976 and made free education a national movement,

enrolment grew dramatically, far beyond all forecasted figures. As a result, since the latter part

of the 1970s, enrolment has progressively increased in Nigeria (see Figure 3 for primary

enrolment numbers). Girl child continue to lag behind in schooling attainment. Of greater

concern is that the emphasis on enrolment may have been achieved at the expense of quality

(Bruns et al., 2013; Deininger, 2013; Stasavage, 2015). The decline in learning outcomes, which

is a critical proxy for schooling quality, is on the rise, mainly due to the mismatch between sharp

increases in enrolment and complementary resources to support maintenance of quality

standards.

2.4 EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITY AND STRATIFICATION

Stratification research in Nigeria has a long history, although empirical analysis is limited due

to lack of data (Buchmann&Hannum, 2011). Buchmann (2011) noted that because of the

different conditions that guide research in developing and industrialized nations, such as class

structures that are less differentiated, the degree to which the educational systems are

institutionalized, and the occupational structures that are characterized by poor economic

conditions in the former, caution should be exercised in making generalizations. A key

difference in the situation indeveloping versus industrialized nations is that the former is

characterized by low levels of education and high levels of educational institutions, inequality,

and stratification. Due to the low level of education in less developed nations, education

emerged as one of the leading mechanisms of stratification (Foster, 2010). For instance, Foster
 30

(2010) argued that the rate of collective mobility in Africa is low because only a few people are

able to change their status as education influences social dynamics in the region.

In an early attempt to examine social stratification in Nigeria, Yeld (1960) argued that Western

education was a major factor in the status attainment process and social mobility. This study

examined the determinants of social mobility and how status is confined in the predominantly

Islamic northern parts of the country and found that Western education, although not widely

available in the beginning, provided the opportunity for people to attain and rise in occupational

status. Another analysis by Morgan and Morgan (2018) showed evidence to support the long

established human capital claim that education credential signals ability and induces productivity

necessary for economic growth. Morgan and Morgan (2018) noted that as education was rapidly

expanding in Nigeria, the demand for educated workers also kept pace with the growth. For

instance, in 1974, teachers were the most educated occupational group in the country with an

average of 11 years of schooling. By 1992, the average had increased to 13 years. For other

occupational categories, the authors observed that the change was more dramatic: For the

professional and clerical office occupation group, the increase was from 9 years to 14 years

between 1972 and 1992, respectively; that of skilled workers was from 3 to 9 years; and for

unskilled workers, it was from 1 to 8 years. Interestingly though, it was found that investment in

education had significant impact in the public sector (in terms of earning potential) and had

lesser or no effect in the private sector (made up of skilled workers such as trained artisan males

and unskilled workers such as laborers and drivers). For both cohorts in the public sector, the

unbiased estimated return for each additional year of schooling was 8.8%, and even after

inflation-adjusted earningswere considered, the public sector return to education remained stable,

while significant decline was observed for the private sector. This partly explains the role of

education as the sorting mechanism that reproduces inequality in the context of developing

nations.
 31

O'Connell and Beckett (2015) argued that social stratification in Nigeria is a subject matter of the

unequal system of educational distribution. This early analysis suggest that the idea that

education expansion will diminish social origin effect is far-fetched in Nigeria, as parental

education and occupation fostering access to education continues to rise. O'Connell and Beckett

(2015) found that male children were more likely to be represented at higher educational

institutions and tended to be overly represented in top careers upon graduation than the female

children. They suggested that the result was more likely for boys than for girls. They also argued

that only the wealth status of parents is capable of overcoming barriers to education. For

instance, they showed that girls in higher educational institutions were more likely than boys to

be from wealthy family backgrounds. This class association was also connected to region, as the

authors suggested that students from the far North who were predominantly Muslim were more

likely to be from higher socio-economic backgrounds compared to Christians from the South

whose fathers were farmers with low-paying jobs. O'Connell and Beckett (2015) concluded that

the father’s education was highly important in Nigeria because it was capable of alleviating

girls’ disadvantages.

2.5 CONTEXTUAL FACTORS INFLUENCING SCHOOLING PROVISIONIN

NIGERIA

It is widely known that poor educational provision plagues the system of education in

developing countries, partly due to poverty and poor infrastructures. Enrolment and keeping

children in school has continued to be an uphill task for many governments of developing

nations most especially Nigeria. For instance, out of the 69 million out-of school children in the

world, 29 million reside in Sub-Saharan Africa (UNESCO, 2011). Also, an estimation of about

38 million children in Sub-Saharan Africa drop out of school yearly mostlywomen, and the trend

is likely to continue unless drastic measures are in place (Abuel-Ealeh et al., 2010). The problem

is even worse when considering the level of disparity between male and female child. Therefore

international organizations and other interested observers have since resolved to focus on
 32

increasing access as the starting point for achieving educational equality. As a result, since the

1960s, increasing access to education has been the central national policy focus in Nigeria and

other developing countries, and education has continued to rise for all gender. In Sub-Saharan

Africa alone, the number of children out of school decreased by 13 million from 1999 to 2010.

In North Central Zone of Nigeria, which is the main focus in this research, education has

dramatically expanded since independence in 1960, partly due to waves of government programs

that instituted tuition-free access to primary education and gave opportunity to all gender to be

enrolled in schools. Several of these reforms and national policies on education were primarily

intended to eliminate gender barriers that impede participation especially for gender groups. As a

result, a boom in enrolment originating at the primary level quickly spread throughout other

levels of education. For instance, while in 1972 an estimated 4,391,197 primary school children

were enrolled in school, in 2010,the enrolment increased by more than 300% to 20,681,805

(World Bank statistics). Secondary and tertiary enrolment records, although lower, also match

closely to primary enrolment success.

This progress made in expanding education in Nigeria is particularly important due to its effect

in increasing educational opportunities for girls, people in rural villages, and poor children.

However, despite this impressive trend in enrolment, North Central as well as some other region

in Nigeria lag behind in closing the gap of gender inequality in education. For example, Nigeria

is still home to the highest number of out-of-school children in the world: about 8.2 million

children are out of school (Abuel-Ealeh et al., 2010). Also, while developing nations have 80%

of children in the world (UNICEF, 2004), a significant proportion of these children are out of

school, enrol and drop-out due to poverty, face higher grade repetition, and are subjected to poor

quality education.

In Nigeria and other developing countries, enrolment of girl children and their academic

achievement are largely dependent on the family’s socioeconomic status. Therefore, poverty is
 33

the main reason why several female children remain excluded in education and why wealth of

household remains the most significant determinant of progression to higher schooling as well as

completion of each level (Lewin, 2019). In Nigeria, enrolment and advancing to a higher level of

education are dependent upon parental income and education (Kazeem et al., 2010; Lincove,

2009; Lloyd & Easton, 1977). For instance, Kazeem et al. (2010) reported that children of

mothers with secondary level schooling or higher are 14 times more likely to be enrolled

compared to their counterparts with mothers that have no schooling. In Brazil, educational

attainment is determined by parental educational and occupational status (Bourguignon, Ferreira,

& Menéndez, 2017; Fernandes, 2014); in rural Ghana, enrolment is low among poor households

due to thediversion of children to child labour (Fentiman, Hall, & Bundy, 2019), and parental

education and household income determine entry age of children in primary education (Lavy,

1996) as well as access to schooling track with more economic benefit (Rolleston, 2011).

In recognition that despite enrolment increases, standards of educationinstitutions remain low

and a greater proportion of female children are excluded from education, numerous researchers

of developing countries have investigated those micro and macro factors that stall growth in

education. For instance, distance from school which is also related to educational provision and

gender inequality is a major variable in the literature that explains why female children are not

participating in education in North Central Zone of Nigeria. It is well established that in

Northrenregions of the country, the greater the distance from school, the more likely that female

children will not attend school. Distance from school determines if a child enrols in school at all,

enrols at late age, attends school on a regular basis, or completes basic schooling (Ampiah&Adu‐

Yeboah, 2019; Birdsall&Orivel, 2016; Fentiman et al., 2019; Kazeem et al., 2010;

Knodel&Wongsith, 2011).

In the study conducted by Kazeem et al. (2010) to determine the demand and supply side

constraints of educational attainment in Nigeria, it was found that distance from school

constituted an additional burden in the pursuit of education for gild child from less wealthy
 34

backgrounds. Distance from school was found to be a major factor for primary and secondary

school attendance: living 20 minutes or more away from school reduced the probability for

primary and secondary school attendance by 27% and 52%, respectively. In a similar study for

rural Ghana, Lavy (2016) found that distance from school influenced schooling enrolment and

attainment. The author suggested that the elasticity of ever enrolling in a primary school due to

distance was 0.07 while that for enrolling in a middle school was 0.30. Also, when school quality

indicator variables were added in the regression model, the probability of elasticity increased to

0.10 for primary school, while the result remained the same for middle school. The author also

added that structural factors such as lack of free public transportation or the cost of transportation

to and fro school exacerbate the condition. In the study of 30 developing countries, Huisman and

Smith (2010) found that distance to school influenced parental decision whether or not to send

their female children to school.

Besides distance to school, the effects of family size and structure on educational attainment in

developing countries have been well documented. In some cases, evidence of the effects of

sibling size and family type (for instance, practice of polygamy) were mixed. While sibship size

may be negatively associated with educational attainment in Thailand (Knodel&Wongsith, 2011)

and Malaysia (Pong, 2016), in rural Botswana (Chernichovsky, 2015), and Kenya (Gomes,

2014), it was found to be positively related to educational attainment.

2.6 DIMENSIONS OF GENDER INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION

Many scholars have successfully argued that addressing gender gap in education is the critical

step towards reducing unequal educational outcomes around the world (McDougall, 2010).

Improved access to education for females has been linked toincreasing economic development

globally, especially in developing regions (Dollar &Gatti, 2019). Much evidence shows that

persistent gender inequality hinders growth and development in education in Third World

countries (Klasen, 2012b). Gender stratification research reveals that the discrimination against
 35

women in education and employment is not only devastating on humanitarian grounds, but also a

major hindering factor for economic development. Increased access to education is viewed as the

means for achieving gender parity and progress in economic development. However, limited

access to education for girls in Nigeria and in many other developing countries persists and

continues to be a major concern for policy makers and the international community. Despite

significant progress in the expansion of education in most developing nations, females still lag

behind in enrolment and achievement at all levels of schooling. At the lowest level of basic

schooling (primary), participation rates are high for both males and females and appear to have

promising gender-leveling prospects, but the situation reverses remarkably at later transitions

(secondary and tertiary) (Stromquist, 2018).

Multitudes of interrelated factors contribute to gender inequality in education, yet scholars tend

to discuss barriers against females separately, giving less attention to how they are related

(Stromquist, 2018). The culturalists (for example, Pittin, 2010), for instance, suggest that gender

inequality in education results from cultural norms and practices. They may focus on discussing

the cultural belief that advanced education for women makes them proud and less likely to

humble themselves to perform their traditional roles as mothers and wives. Hence, educational

gender inequality ensues due to cultural factors. A culturalist may also cite and emphasize the

pervasive cultural belief that male children are more valued than female children, so when

families cannot afford for every child to attend school, they choose to train their male children

over their female children. A possible scenario from a culturalist point of view could be

represented as follows: In Igbo culture in Nigeria, Ada’nne (the first female child) is the child

that the family looks up to, to become the “surrogate” mother. Ada’nne’s typical role is to cook,

clean thehouse, run errands, help with family business, and help raise siblings. When she falls

short of these roles, immediate and extended family become very disappointed and fear the

worst, which could be that she will become unmarriageable and soil the family’s reputation

including blurring the chances of marriage for other younger daughters. It is also easy to blame
 36

her education. It is common to hear that the “misbehavior” is as a result of “too much

education.” In this same culture, the stake is also high for the Di-Okpa (first male child). Di-

Okpa is the pride of the family, the one to keep and maintain the family name and reputation. He

also has several responsibilities and is trained from an early age to be the caretaker of the family,

but in his case, the family is willing to sacrifice so much more to make him succeed both in

education and career. It is not unusual for a poor family to sell the last piece of family land to

raise funds for Di-Okpa to further his education or to use the funds for start-up capital for

business. The support for Di-Okpa is viewed to have intergenerational benefits; he is the one to

stay in the family and provide for them subsequently, while in the case of Ada’nne, she marries

and goes away. Hence, a culturalist may point out these gendered roles and how cultural

practices contribute to the disadvantage of girls. However, other scholars with an economic point

of view focus on poverty as the main reason for female disadvantage in education in Third

World countries. Colclough, Rose, and Tembon (2010), for instance, noted that even in

situations where access to school is open on an equal basis for all social classes and tuition is

free, other associated schooling costs (cost of uniform, cost of textbooks) make poor parents

more likely to engage in “rationed enrolment” which mostly favour boys.

Distinct discussions on these barriers help to provide a deep understanding on how individual

factors influence gender inequality in education; however, when taken together and their

relationships are highlighted, the issue of persistent gender inequality is better elaborated and put

more in perspective. Moreover, by focusing on a single factor approach to gender inequality (say

cultural) without emphasis on the related conditionsthat reinforce the barrier, the researcher may

fail to provide the full picture of the cycle that perpetuates gender inequality. As argued by

Stromquist (2019), both cultural reasons and poverty are significant in influencing the

advancement of women in education.

 37

2.7 THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE AND POVERTY ON GENDER INEQUALITY

Although recent research from Third World countries suggests that poverty and gender

inequality are related, researchers often link the outcomes of the inequality to cultural norms and

practices rather than to poverty itself (Colclough et al., 2010). These studies highlight that due to

patriarchal culture in most of Third World nations, males are more valued than females and

females are generally viewed as subordinates of males. Hence, the training of boys in school is

given more priority, while girls receive attention in the form of nurturing them to be good future

wives and mothers.

These cultural perceptions influence household decisions on schooling and manifest more when

household income levels are low. In other words, poor households are more likely to face the

challenge of “picking and choosing” whom to send to school, and because there is a strong

belief that boys’ education is more valuable than that of girls, these poor parents choose to

educate their boys over their girls (Colclough et al., 2010; Stromquist, 2019). This in turn is

reinforced due to the imbedded misconception across various regions of the world that female

education is a waste (since they will be given out in marriage). Although it is now generally

accepted that education for girls is necessary, there is still wide perception that “too much”

education makes girls less obedient to their parents and husbands. Moreover, in cases where

families are forced to let their children engage in child labour to support their schooling, boys

are more likely to engage in money-making activities to pay their way through school while

girls mostly help out at home or with family businesses that makes it easier for the income

generated to be diverted to alleviating their family’s financial needs (Colclough et al., 2010).

2.7.1 Family Wealth Status Versus Gender Inequality in Education

The research by Biraimah (2017) and several others suggests that social origin is a stronger

predictor of educational attainment for girls than for boys in Nigeria. This means that girls’

chances of attaining higher levels of education are highly dependent upon the socio-economic
 38

status of their households. Biraimah (2017) assessed social background effects on education

attainment in Nigeria and found selective social background distinction in the higher education

transition for women. In other words, access to higher education for women is highly selective

and based on their social origin. The richer, upper class women are more represented in higher

education, compared to the poor male counterparts who are far more a representative of the

Nigeria society.

Increasingly, global attention has focused on emphasizing the benefits of gender equality in

education. Several scholars have argued that the eradication of gender gaps is the key to social

and economic transformations. Some of the benefits that stand out are that the education of

women leads to lower fertility and increased child health (Martin, 2015; Osili& Long, 2018)

which have multiplying effects on economic and social development. A World Bank study of

127 countries (both developed and developing) from 1975 to 2010 showed that gender inequality

in education increased as the rate of per capital income declined (Dollar &Gatti, 2019).

According to the authors, developing countries with low per capita income have increased

incidence of gender inequality compared to developed nations. The authors argued that gender

inequality is an unhealthy “choice” for economic transformations as “societies that underinvest

in women pay a price for it in terms of slower growth and lower income” (preface). The authors

further noted that in addition to income levels, other variables such as religious preference,

region, and the degree of civil liberty contribute to gender inequality. In another study,

Klasen(2012a) estimated that between 0.4 and 0.9 percentage point differences in annualper

capita growth rates between East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East

can be attributable to gender inequality between the regions.

As much as the majority of scholars and policy makers agree that gender inequality stalls growth

and has a long run detrimental effect on society’s education and social missions, a growing

number of scholars suggest that gender inequality in education is now a lesser threat than socio-

economic inequality (Buchmann, 2010; J. Knodel& Jones, 2016). Knodel and Jones (2016)
 39

argued that the danger of the socio-economic gap in education is much more severe than the

gender gap because, gender gap is fast reducing in many nations and in some places has virtually

disappeared. For example, the authors offered that although in Thailand and Vietnam the gender

gap in education has almost closed, the socio-economic gap in these two countries remains high.

In Kenya, family wealth status is a greater predictor of educational inequality than gender

stereotypes (Buchmann, 2010). Buchmann (2010) claimed that factors such as child labour, and

patriarchal practices, which have been widely reported to influence female education, have little

effect on schooling enrolment. However, this study also revealed that gender disadvantage

surfaces clearly when household resources are limited. This means that poor households tend to

spend fewer resources on their girls while both girls and boys from wealthier backgrounds have

resource advantages to advance their education.

In another observation of developing countries, Filmer (2010) suggested that wealth gaps are

more pervasive than gender gaps. Gender gaps were found to be high only in West, Central, and

North Africa, and South Asia, but socio-economic gaps were widespread and present in almost

all 35 countries examined. In this study, the magnitude of wealth gap in the inequality in

schooling enrolment surpassed that of gender. For example it was found that male-female gap in

schooling enrolment ranged between 5 and 20 percentage points (lowest value in Nicaragua and

highest value in Benin and Nepal). On the other hand, the wealth gap ranged from 2 percentage

points (in Kazakhstan) to ashigh as 63 percentage points (Morocco). However, the author

cautioned that the results should not be seen as an endorsement for policy makers to curb the

rhetoric and shift attention away from promoting gender equality. Rather, Filmer emphasized the

need to treat gender inequality on region-by region basis instead of generalizing, and to pay

closer attention to wealth differentials in the analyses of educational inequality.

 40

2.8 REGIONAL INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION: THE ROLE OF RELIGION,

GENDER, AND FAMILY WEALTH

There is no doubt that regional inequality limits overall progress in education in every part of the

world where it exists. The study of regional inequality in Nigeria and in many developing

regions is hardly complete without tracing the evolution of education to map out how the

different regions responded when Western education was introduced in the country (Aluede,

2016). The missionaries introduced the first formal Western education in Nigeria and they

became the major distributors of education throughout the colonial era and early periods after

colonization. As a result, coastal areas in Southern Nigeria and other parts of West Africa with

more missionary settlements had greater access to education than the northern parts that were

remotely located (Aguolu, 2019). Moreover, the spread of Western education in the North with

predominantly Islamic population became extremely difficult due to religious beliefs that

Western education was “anti-Islam”.

In addition, the colonial practice of indirect rule in Nigeria, which gave power to traditional

rulers, helped religious leaders to amass the support to block Western education. Thus, Christian

missionaries concentrated on promoting education in the South and largely abandoned the North.

This also allowed for the spread of Quranic schools in the North. However, since the rapid

expansion of education in Nigeria, enrolment has increased for northern children, but the

evidence that northerners are still sceptical of Western education remains pervasive and many

attribute this to be the main cause of North-Central divide in education.

In the Nigerian context, the Southern regions are more advantaged in education than the

Northern regions and the source of this inequality is usually traced to religion. Unequal

educational outcomes such as schooling enrolment, educational institutions and achievement are

characterized by region in Nigeria. Kazeem et al. (2010) and Lincove (2019) found that

attendance rates were significantly lower in the Northern regions than in the Southern regions.

For instance, Lincove (2019) found that 65% of his sample includes children from the poorest
 41

regions of the North-east and North-west, and the two regions also have over 90% of out-of

school children.

Also, the idea that Christian children are more advantaged than Muslim children in education is

also connected to region in Nigeria. The Northern regions are predominantly Muslim, and many

scholars characterize their lagging behind in education as primarily resulting from religious

dogmatism and then from poverty and cultural norms. This region-religion based inequality that

started from the colonial era has persisted until the present and continues to plague the socio-

economic structure in the country. In an empirical study, Kazeem et al. (2010) found that

children from Christian households are five times more likely to attend school than their

counterparts from Muslim households. The influence of religion on attendance also ranked as

second most important after family wealth influence. In another study, Lincove (2019) found

that Islamic religion and residing in the Northeast and Northwest have significant negative

association with schooling attendance. With an enrolment rate of 53.6%, the author suggested

that Muslim children are the least likely to attend school. Gender-Islam interaction was also

emphasized in the study. Being Islam and a girl significantly reduce the likelihood of school

attendance much more than being Islam and a boy.

Other dimension of regional inequality include gender. Poverty and being female in the North

are associated with low educational outcomes. In Northern Nigeria, religious and socio-

economic factors combine to work against the advancement of female education (Csapo, 2011;

Niles, 2019). According to Pittin (2010), regional inequality reflects both sex and class. The

author also identified the influence of the British colonial educational system which permitted

domestic education for girls in the North (to avoid conflict with Northern Muslims) as the reason

why Northern Islamic girls are disadvantaged in education. This system of education provided

support for early marriages.

 42

There is still a strong belief among many conservative northerners that the education of girls is

“un-Islamic” (Csapo, 2011). Islamic girls are generally forced into early marriages, and the

decision whether or not to attend school lies solely with the parents. Ogunjuyigbe and Fadeyi

(2012) presented the perspective that Islamic parents prefer their daughters to attend Islamic

schools because it guarantees the preservation of their religious values and helps them perform

their traditional roles. The study also reported that at the household level, the lack of support for

educating girls include the perception that “female education ends in marriage” and it is

“believed to be destabilizing as many educated women now agitate for change in traditional roles

and decision-making processes” (p. 116).

Although several of these stratification studies in developing countries conducted detailed

analyses, their results were mostly inconclusive due to the nature of the data used. Some of the

studies used small study samples that lack geographic representations. To the best of my

knowledge, this study is the first to use nationally representative data to study inequality in

achievement in Nigeria. Other researchers using nationally representative data in Nigeria, such

as Kazeem et al. (2010) and Lincove (2019), assessed schooling attendance and participation.

This study fills the gap in the literature by using nationally representative data to assess

achievement which is a reliable proxy formeasuring schooling quality and effectiveness

(Hanushek, 1986). This study is the first to provide nationally representative estimates of

performance rates in Nigeria. For instance, I estimate age, region, and gender-based performance

rates of school eligible children, ages 5 to 16. The empirical analyses also helps provide the

associations of the various independent variables on the outcome variables of reading and

numeracy.
 43

2.9 REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL STUDIES

Bitrus (2019), carried out a research to access educational provision and gender inequality in

Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State. Descriptive survey design was adopted. The

population of the study was 305 and purposive sampling technique was used to select all the

population of 305 for the study. Questionnaire was used for data collection. The data collected

were analyze using mean and standard deviation while the null hypothesis formulated for the

study were tested using t-test of independent sample at 0.05 level of significance. The result

revealed that the world is design for men. Government policies, technology and the workplace is

occupied by men, women are forgotten. The study therefore recommended that the world,

government policies, technology and the workplace should be occupied by all, that is, both men

and women for fairness and equity. The study by Caroline (2019) is similar to the present study

as both studies are centered on Educational provision and gender inequality. However, the

present study varies in purpose and scope with the study of Caroline (2019).

The gap of women been forgotten is that which the present study is seriously and sufficiently

seeking to fill.

Davis (2018) investigates women, Race and Class in developing countries. The study used

descriptive survey design in which it targeted 24 head of women organization and 342 women in

four (4) African countries. The purposive sampling was used to select the respondents. This

result in a sample of 366 respondents, the data was collected by the use of two sets of

questionnaires one for the head of women organization and another for the remaining

respondents which were self-administered by the researcher. The research instruments were pilot

tested to test the reliability and validity of the instruments. The University of Nairobi helped to

enhance the validity of the instrument. Data was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively.

The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as the frequencies and

percentages and presentation done in tables. The qualitative data was analyzed thematically

based on objective of the study. The study established that there is gender inequality in work
 44

place and income according to the respondents. The study recommends that women should be

given equal opportunity with the men.

The present study has identified and filled those gaps by investigating women in Plateau State

Nigeria.

Tola (2015) conducted a research on transforming the educational system in Nigeria particular in

Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State. The research work was aimed at finding out

the effect of Educational system in transforming Education in Jos North. Six research questions

were used for the research and the study adopted a descriptive survey research. The population of

the study was 160 respondents while the sample was 35 selected through random sampling

techniques. The instrument was a research question validated by the experts from educational

psychology and educational foundations Nnamdi Azikwe University, Akwa. The reliability co-

efficient of the instrument was 0.76 and the method of Data analysis was through the use of t-test

analysis to test, the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that effective

educational provision for all gender have more and better advantages over one sided provision. It

was recommended that the government should make education available and affordable for both

genders, including good learning atmosphere for better participation.

The study was related to the present because it is also based on the effect of educational system

or provision but differed from the present study because it was centered on Chemistry alone were

as the present study covers provision of education to all genders in the North Central Zone of

Nigeria.

The gap in the study by Tola (2015) was in the area of sample size. It was relatively too small for

the study covering an entire Local Government Area. The present study however intends filling

that gap by a higher or using a higher sample size.

Annabelle (2021) investigated why women are Poorer than Men and what we can do about it. A

descriptive survey design was employed through Close-Ended and questions. The target

population of the study was some male and female working in Admin department Plateau State

Ministry of Education. The study sample size was 100 staff making 60% of the population.
 45

Hence, 60% of the staff was randomly selected from each unit of the department. Questionnaire

was used as data collected instrument. The results validated the research questions and proved

statistically that significant women are poorer than men.

Scarlett (2018) carried out a research on Feminism featuring 52 women from a variety of

backgrounds. The study adopted a correlation research design. Population of the study randomly

selected 52 women from different background. Sample size was 30 women organizations and

associations. Stratified sampling technique was used for sample selection. Two scales title

feminism were used to gather information from the respondent which was face and content

validated by two measurement and evaluation experts in the University of Cambridge. Reliability

of the instrument was determined through spilt half reliability test and co-efficient of 0.76 and

0.73 were obtained for the dependent and independent scales of the instrument. Data obtained

were analyzed using Pearson product moment correlation statistics to answer research questions

while regression analysis of variances was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of

significance. Based on the findings, it was recommended that feminism should be addressed.

Hannah (2015) carried out a study on the problems of Educational provision in Nigeria.

Descriptive survey research design was adopted through structured questionnaires and intensive

interview with 100 government officials, 30 principals and two (2) Commissioners of Education.

The key study findings shows that educational provision in Nigeria were low because some rural

areas have to trek for far distance for them to get education. It also reveals that most public

schools building infrastructure and learning facilities are bad. The study suggested that in order

to get better education government have to make sure there are schools in every village with

good class and learning materials. The ministry of Education should strengthen quality

supervision as well as acknowledging good performance among others.

Soraya (2018) conducted a research to investigate women’s anger. The study used quantitative

method to collect data. A structured survey on a large scale of a random sample of female was

conducted in Benue. The data collected from the questionnaires is analyzed by SPSS for

descriptive statistics. For each strategy, the mean, standard deviation and mean percentage were
 46

calculated to show the reason for women anger which are underpaid, overworked and often

diminished in the workplace and in society at large. The present study also stresses the

importance of catering for women in workplaces and the society at large through the provision of

equal opportunity in education.

Chimamanda (2019) carried out a study to examine women contribution to the society. The study

was premised on the investment of Adams Equity Theory, Expectancy Theory and Hertberg two

factors Theory. The study adopted a mixed research method with a survey research design. The

target population comprised of 2045 women. A random sampling technique was used for the

selection. Data was collected using a set of questionnaires. An interview schedule was used to

collect data from 18 selected women organization. A questionnaire piloted prior to data

collection to determine the validity and reliability was used as the main research instruments.

The data collected was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) windows

version 22 computer program. The finding of this study may help women and other educational

stakeholders find better ways of encouraging women participation. The study recommended that

women should be given higher privileges than even men in the society; women should be given

more opportunity for education.

Okoroma (2018), examined educational policies and problems of implementation in Nigeria. The

selected sample size was 69 and data collection was by means or use of questionnaire and

analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics. The results show that educational policies are

not adequate and that even the available ones are facing the problems of implementation which is

part of the reasons for poor education provision especially in North Central Zone of Nigeria.

The gap in the study by Okoroma was in the area of the sample size. It was relatively small for

the study. The present study however intends to fill the gap by using higher sample size.

Attah (2017) conducted a research on factor hindering educational provision in Nigeria. The

study sought to identify factor hindering educational provision in the country. The study

employed a descriptive survey research design. Research techniques employed were interview

and questionnaire. The sample of 49 respondents with 42 questionnaire respondents randomly

 47

selected from ministry of education and 7 interview respondents purposively selected from the

districts education office, quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as

tables, frequencies and percentages while qualitative responses were coded, categorized and

analyzed into themes. There was also the use of respondents direct quotes. The findings of the

study shows that educational provision is affected by factors such as poor educational funding,

low salaries, unfavorable policies on education ect. Based on the findings, the study

recommended that the government should improve educational funding and provide good

learning environment.

The study is similar to the present study as emphasis is made on educational provision.

Buchi (2020) investigate the effect of gender inequality in the Nigerian educational system.

Questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection, hypothesis were tested using

descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients techniques respectively. The findings indicated

that gender inequality affect the educational quality of Nigeria. It is therefore recommended that

government should take the issue of equalizing educational opportunity seriously to facilitate

effective and efficient education.

Karine (2019), carried out a research study on the assessment of educational provision. Basically,

descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The study was purely anchored on

education.

Ayobami (2018) carried out a study on importance of educational provision and how it affects

women education. The research utilized convenient sampling to collect 200 questionnaires using

correlation coefficient; the study found that educational provision had significant positive and

direct effect on women education.

Tijane (2017) conducted a research which examined the philosophy of Nigeria education. The

study adopted a descriptive survey design. Two research questions guided the study and one

hypothesis was tested. A structural questionnaire was used for data collection. The population of

the study comprised 655 and 105 sample was purposively drawn for the study. The instrument

was validated by two experts who are senior lecturers both in the department of education of the
 48

Benue State University Makurdi, Benue State. Mean scores and standard deviation were used to

answer the research questions while t-test was used in testing hypothesis at 0.05 level of

significance. The reliability of the instrument was established using croubach Alpha. It yielded a

reliability co-efficient of 0.67 which was considered adequate for the study. The finding showed

among others that adequate educational provision for all genders is very effective and helpful.

Based on the findings it was recommended that the government in particular should be able to

provide free education for all genders where necessary to encourage them.

L.O Odia and S.I Omofonmwan (2010) conducted a research which examined the educational

system in Nigeria, problems and prospect. One hypothesis was formed to guide the study and

expo factor design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 360. A

questionnaire was developed and administered to the 360 population and the data collected were

subjected to statistical analysis using ANOVA. The test yielded significant results.

The study by L.O Odia and S.I Omofonmwan 2010 is similar to the present study as both are

centered on the educational system in Nigeria. Problems and prospects, however, the present

study varies in purpose and scope with the study in question (2010).

Davis (2018) investigated the effect of gender inequality to women education. Descriptive

survey research design was employed in the study. The size of the population was 164. Of these

155 younger women and nine older women that is a total of 164 persons were selected as sample

by using availability sampling techniques to address the issue. Closed ended questionnaires were

used for gathering data. The reliability indices of 0.85, 0.87, 0.89 and 0.84 for working condition

for women. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis techniques, descriptive analysis,

one sample t-test, correlation and regression were employed to compute the data. Descriptive

analysis results showed that both genders were not treated equal in various aspect of life which

brought about the gap. The research recommended that there should be a constitution that makes

both genders equal which the present research is seeking to fill.

Sara (2014) carried out a research on Basic education as necessity in Nigeria: Issues of access

quality, equity and impact. The research work was aimed at finding out how accessibility quality
 49

and equity can have impact on basic education in Nigeria. Four research questions guided the

research and the study adapted a descripted survey research. The population of the study was 605

while the sample selected was 120. Through random sampling technique. The instrument was a

research question validated by two experts from educational management and policy and

educational foundations Kogi State University Anyigba. The reliability of coefficient of the

instrument was 0.77 and the method of the data analysis was by mean rating. The finding showed

that easy access to basic education in Nigeria enhances equity and quality education. The

opposite has created a gap and therefore, it was recommended that there should be easy access of

basic education for all and for the sake of quality and equity and which the present study is

seeking to fill.

Okafor (2021), carried out a research work on authority gap, in Suleja Local Government Area

of Niger state. The research work was aimed at finding out the gap difference(s) between genders

as far as educational provision is concerned. Four research questions guided the research and the

study adopted a descriptive survey research. The population of the study was 600 while the

sample was 122 selected through random sampling technique. The instrument was a research

question validated by two experts from educational management and policy and one from

education foundations of Niger State University. The reliability of coefficient of the instrument

was 0.77 and the method of the data analysis was mean rating. The finding showed that closing

the gap of educational provision by relevant authorities is very crucial for educational

development. It was recommended therefore that relevant authorities should be able to provide

effective and efficient opportunities to all genders to be educated. Mary’s study is related to the

present. In suleja Local Government Area of Nigeria State, unequal gender education is highly

prevalent and which has created a gap that the present study is seeking to fill.

Wandoo (2014) investigate education and economy of Nigeria. The study adopted a survey

design by using structured questionnaires and a sample size of 60 respondents. The sample was

purposely selected to meet the goal of this study. It is concluded that increasing in good and

quality education will help in the growth of the economy. The study recommended that the need
 50

for providing quality education is necessary for a better Nigeria. The study is related to the

present study as it includes education.

Ogunode (2021), carried out a research on educational planning in Nigeria during Covid 19:

problems and way forwards, in Okpokwu L.G.A of Benue State. The research work was aimed at

finding out how Covid-19 affected educational provision in Okpokwu. Four research questions

guided the research and the study adopted a descriptive survey research. The population of the

study was 602 while the sample was 122 selected through random sampling technique. The

instrument was a research question validated by two experts from the department of educational

foundations, Benue State University, Makurdi. The reliability of co-efficient of the instrument

was 0.79 and the method of the data analysis was mean rating. The finding shows that

educational provision especially during Covid-19 suffered a very serious setback in Opkokwu. It

was recommended that Government in particular should develop policies and procedures that

will keep the school running during any pandemic e.g Covid-19, and the likes. The study was

related to the present study as it is based on educational provision. But the difference was that the

study was not carried out by the student in an educational setting like the present study.

The gap in the study by the author as shown above was in the area of the sample size. It was

relatively too small for a study covering an entire local government area that is, Okpokwu Local

Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria.

2.10 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter, presented a review of the literature on educational provision in both developing and

developed nations according to Klasen (2018) to help understand the concept and to provide

comparative terms of education. According to Nikkhoo (2016) educational provision is a critical

factor that influences academic achievement. Although education expansion has helped to

increase the enrolment of students, several research studies suggest that their relative chances of

success remains the same. As mentioned by Clement H.A, performance in education in Nigeria is

low and poor students are much more likely to perform lower in examinations.
 51

CHAPTER THREE

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

Research designs are plans and the procedures for research that span the decision from

broad assumption to detailed method of data collection and analysis (Cresswell 2003).

In other words, the research design articulates what data is required, what methods are

going to be used to collect and analyze this data, and how all of this is going to answer

our research question.

This study uses descriptive research design and aims to determine the aspects of the

problem which will be crucial for a thorough analysis. With descriptive research design,

the researcher has an opportunity to have a clear view of the problem from other related

sources and narrows the research around these important items.

3.2 POPUPALTION AND SAMPLE

3.2.1 Population

The population of this study was all senior staff of the six (6) state of Ministry of

Education, some selected parents in the region and records of the allocation made to the

six ministry of Education, record of the enrolment are ninety (90) and with some of the

documents necessary for the study.

3.2.2 Sample

The sample size is small; number of respondents to whom the questionnaire was

administered includes five senior staff in the Ministry of education in each State of the
 52

North Central, ten parents (10) in each State. So, the total size of the population is ninety

(90).

3.3 SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

The study make used of simple random sampling; this gives every element an equal

chance of getting selected to be the part of sample. The senior staff and parents

interviewed were selected base on their willingness to participate in the conduct of the

exercise. The five senior staff in each state deputy finance director, selected base on the

fact that the allocation to the ministry is known by him and he has asses to the

document/inventory.

The others were selected from level 12 upward and their willingness to be sampled.

Three members of PTA the PTA Chairman, the Vice-Chairman and the Provost from

each Government School.

The other seven were selected during PTA meeting of the Government School and base

on their willingness to participate in the survey.

3.4 INSTRUMENTS FOR DATA COLLECTION

3.4.1 Description of the Instruments

The instruments used in the data collections are:

Questionnaire: A questionnaire is a list of questions designed to elicit information from

specified target respondents. The questionnaire has three sections. The first section

contains bio-data which does not include name of the respondents. Section B contains the

necessary questions which needed to be filled by only the staff of the Ministry in each
 53

state. While the last section contains the section for the parents interviewed in the

questionnaire.

The questionnaire is titled ‘’Educational Provision and Gender Inequality in North

Central zone of Nigeria’’ and coded EPGINCN. With section B and C contain six each

questions and each is itemized into three. Each question is optioned with strongly agree

(SA), agree (A), undecided (U), strongly Disagree (SD) and Disagree (D). One mark for

each question and Linkert scale system is employed.

Inventory: This is the document that proves the number on enrollment in the school

each year. The researcher made used of this to check the level of imbalance in gender

enrollment within the region.

Interviews: This is a question and answer situated between the researcher and

respondents with a view to eliciting relevant data. It is done between the interviewer and

the interviewee on one-on-one basis. The questions and the way they are asked are

predetermined and follow a stereotyped pattern, therefore, it is structured. Structured

questions help the interviewer to keep focused and save time in the process of the

interview. The interview helps the study to reshape the questionnaire.

3.4.2 Procedures for Instruments Development

The instrument used was developed by the researcher in accordance with the research

topic: Educational Provision and Gender Inequality in Nigeria (A case study of North

Central Zone of Nigeria).

The questionnaire was developed on the basis of two variables of ‘Educational Provision’

‘Gender inequality’. The questions tend to access the level of availability of the education
 54

provision. Also, how the provision has caused the gender inequality. The questions try to

see if there is any relationship that exists between the educational provision and gender

inequality.

The budget and the inventory made the researcher to re-phrase some of the items in the

questionnaires. Thus, the interview and inventory help the researcher to develop the

questions of the questionnaires.

3.5 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF INSTRUMENTS

3.5.1 Validity

The content validity of the instrument was determined by the experts in test and

measurement who marched the variables of the instruments with the research questions in

order to determine whether or not the instruments measured what they were supposed to

measure. The questionnaire was presented to experienced personnel and experts in

administration and supervision. They considered the instrument and made suggestions.

Therefore in order to test the validity correlation coefficient for the independent and

dependent, variables were calculated. Based on the result of correlation analysis, all the

three factors of educational provision were positively related with gender inequality.

3.5.2 Reliability

The study used pre-test test technique to ascertain the reliability of the research

instruments. The questionnaire was administered twice to the same set of people at the

interval of two weeks. In order to test the internal consistency of variables in the research

instrument with coefficient alpha between 0.6 and 0.7 indicates fair reliability.
 55

3.6 PROCEDURES FOR DATA COLLECTIONS

The data are collected in two ways: primary ways through interview, questionnaires.

Also, through records.

Letter of permission was written to the each permanent secretary of each State and

approval was given. Since researcher cannot be in all the state of the North Central, the

letter of permission and questionnaires were given to the acquaintance in the six States

namely: Kwara State, Kogi State, Nassarawa State, and Niger State, Benue and Plateau

States were handled by the researcher, since he resides and schooling there respectively.

Therefore, the questionnaires was giving to the acquaintance who are also staff of the

ministry of education in the four States named earlier.

3.7 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS

The data collected were analysed by indicating the opinion of the respondents in their

relative frequencies in tabular form. The statistical method of testing the hypotheses is

student personal study survey (SPSS). Mean scores were employed for data analysis. A

mean score up to 2.5 was regarded as acceptable or positive while mean score below 2.5

is low and unfavourable or negative. The cut off mark of 2.5 was obtained by adding the

sum of the nominal rating values and dividing that by the number of rating items

Thus, 4+3+2+1= 10

10/4 = 2.5

that is, total sum score divided by number of respondent.

 56

At the end, all the mean score per each question was taken together and divided by the

number of questionnaire meant for each research question to get the grand mean.

Decision Rule: - A cut off point was determined by finding the mean of the value

assigned to the options and dividing the numbered options. 5+4+3+2+1 = 15÷5 = 3

From the decision rule, 3 points become the average score. Any score below 3 is

considered low, unfavourable and negative while score above 3 is considered high;

favourable and positive.

 57

APPENDIX I

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

I James Emmanuel Idakwo a student of University of Jos, I am pursuing Masters in Educational

Administration and Planning, I am undertaking a Research on the topic: Educational Provision

and Gender Inequality in Nigeria (A Case Study of North Central Zone of Nigeria). In

view of this, your honest and sincere response will go along way in contributing to the success of

this all – important work, as you kindly and by ticking in the appropriate box provided or by

writing on the dotted lines; where provided.

Thank you.

Yours Faithfully,

James Emmanuel Idakwo

 58

APPENDIX II

PARENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRE
SECTION A: PERSONAL DATA
Instruction: Kindly respond to this questionnaire, your responses will be treated with strict
confidentiality and use purely for academic purposes
Sex: male [ ] female: [ ]
Parent’s Occupation: _____________________________________________

SECTION B
Instruction: Please tick (√) in the space provided as applicable to you.
Key: SA = Strongly agree A = agree U = undecided; D = disagree SD = strongly
disagree.
S/ ITEMS A SA D SD U
N
1 There is an adequate level of educational provisions in the North
central zone of Nigeria
2 The enrolment level of students in the North Central Zone of
Nigeria shows educational apathy
3 There is a high level of gender inequality in the North Central
Zone of Nigeria
4 The government have tried enough in discouraging gender
inequality in the educational sector within North Central Zone
5 Lack of finance is a cause of gender inequality in the educational
sector within North Central Zone
6 Lack of educational facilities is a cause of gender inequality in
the educational sector within North Central Zone
7 Gender inequality in the educational sector is responsible for the
underdevelopment of the North Central Zone of Nigeria
8 The female gender is the affected gender in terms of gender
inequality in the educational sector within North Central Zone
 59

SENIOR STAFFS’ QUESTIONNAIRE

SECTION A: PERSONAL DATA

Instructions: Kindly respond to this questionnaire, your responses will be treated with strict
confidentiality and use purely for academic purposes
Sex: male [ ] female: [ ]
Present qualification: NCE/Diploma [ ], degree [ ], Med [ ]
Post/Rank: ………………………………………………

SECTION B
Instructions: Please tick (√) in the space provided as applicable to you.
Key: SA = strongly agree A = agree U = undecided; D = disagree SD = strongly
disagree.
S/N ITEMS A SA D SD U
1 There are still work to be done to provide an adequate level of
educational provisions in the North central zone of Nigeria
2 The enrolment level of students in the North Central Zone of
Nigeria is discouraging government involvement
3 There is a high level of gender inequality in the North Central
Zone of Nigeria
4 The government have allot to do to discourage gender inequality
in the educational sector within North Central Zone
5 Lack of adequate funding is a cause of gender inequality in the
educational sector within North Central Zone
6 Gender inequality in the educational sector is responsible for the
underdevelopment of the North Central Zone of Nigeria
7 The female gender is the affected gender in terms of gender
inequality in the educational sector within North Central Zone
 60

REFRENCES

Gender Discrimination in Education: The Violation of Rights of Women and Girls. (2012).
Global Campaign for Education. Retrieved July 02, 2019 from
http://campaignforeducation.org/docs/reports/GCE_INTERIM_Gender_Report.pdf

Klasen, S., &Lamanna, F. (2008).The Impact of Gender Inequality in Education and

Employment on Economic Growth in Developing Countries: Updates and Extensions.
Retrieved July 01, 2019
fromhttp://conference.iza.org/conference_files/worldb2008/klasen_s146.pdf

Linda, Z. (2014). Factors Causing Gender Inequality in Education in Tanzania: A Case of

Korogwe District Secondary Schools.University of Tanzania. Retrieved July 02, 2019
from http://repository.out.ac.tz/826/1/ZACHARIA_LINDA DISSERTATION_FINAL.pdf

Nikkhoo, T., &Jonsson, E. (2017).Female Education and Gender

Inequality.https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/52910/1/gupea_2077_52910_1.pdf

White, G., Ruther, M., & Kahn, J. (2016). Educational Inequality in India: An Analysis of
Gender Differences in Reading and Mathematics. India Human Development Survey.
Retrieved July 01, 2019 fro
https://ihds.umd.edu/sites/default/files/publications/papers/EducationGenderInequalityinI
ndia.pdf

Akpan P.A. (1996). Gender imbalance in access to education: Implication for development of
South Eastern Nigeria. In Y. Oruwari (Ed.), Women Development and the Nigerian
Enrolment. Ibadan, Nigeria: Vintage.

Amasuomo, J. O. (2006). Gender imbalance in teachers supply in primary and secondary schools
in Bayelsa state: Implications for national development. Journal of Research in
Education, 3, (4).

Clement H.A. (1963). The Story of the ancient world, London: George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd.

Federal Ministry of Education (2004).National policy on education. Lagos: Federal Government

Press.

Iloegbunam, N.E. (2006). Rights of women as panacea for repositioning women education in
Nigeria. Multidisciplinary Journal of Research Development, 7,(3).

National Universities Commission (2006) in National Bureau of Statistics Annual Abstract of

Statistics.

Nigerian Census Gender Population, www.nigerianpolity.blogspot.com/2007/01

Otite, A.O (2006). Disparity level of the girl-child and boy-child enrolment in universal basic
Nigeria.Multidisciplinary Journal of Research Development, 7(1).
 61

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999). Lagos, the Federal Government
Press.

UNICEF (2001).Children and women rights in Nigeria.A wake up call (Situation Assessment
and Analysis). Abuja, Nigeria: National Planning Commission and UNICEF.