Social Factors Underlying Gender Variations of School Enrolment in Nigeria

Abstract

The crisis of development in the education sector in Africa has been topical for more than a decade. Attention has focused specially on gender disparities because female education has been visibly threatened by the crisis. In Nigeria, for example, the crisis has worsened since the introduction of the series of economic stabilization measures, increasing poverty, and political instability, which has resulted in the widening of the gender disparity in school enrolment right from the primary school level to tertiary level. There is at least 10% disparity between the enrolment of males and females in favour of males.

This paper, therefore, examines why and how gender continues to play a major role in determining who goes to school, how well they do, and how far they progress. Specifically, it examines the major social factors underlying gender variations of school enrolment in Nigeria. The causes of the gender differentials in literacy and enrollments are grouped into three categories, macro-societal level factors such as the political economy, social policy, geographical, socio-cultural and religions values; household level and school related factors.


Ife Psychologia Vol.13(1) 2005: 74-100