FACTORS INFLUENCING SECONDARY SCHOOL GIRLS DROPOUT IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The inception of the universal basic education (UBE) since 2000, with the main goal of education for all by the year 2015, is in recognition of the need to educate as well as develop its citizenry and the Nigerians nation. Again, the road-map for the Nigerian education sector which was flagged o in 2009, include, among others, access and equity: standards and quality assurance (Obanya, 2010). These were steps in the right direction as gains were made in form of marginal increase in enrollment, however, there are still some challenges in terms of access, equity, achievement in school subjects and retention/dropout, especially among girls (Oorma, 2009). Some children enroll in school but do not remain until graduation. A dropout is any student, who for one reason or the other leave school prematurely before graduation, without transferring to another school. This is most common in rural areas where there is abject poverty, ignorance and children form a recognizable part of the family labour force (Kamla-Ra, 2007). It has been strongly observed that the Nigerian girl-child has not had a fair chance to qualitative education as a result of socio-economic, school related and other societal factors (Alika & Egbochukwu, 2010). The report of UNICEF (2004) indicated that about 7.3 million children do not go to school, of which 62% are girls. Sometimes even when the educational possibilities are present the girl-child may not be able to access them. Access to education has been defined by Oorma (2009) to include availability, convenience, ability and the opportunity to be educated and according to her, despite concerted eorts to push their cause forward, millions of girls still cannot access education or dropout of school because of their peculiar circumstances. Nigeria is among the 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa reported to have more than one million girls out of school (UNICEF, 2003). The results of the study of Okpukpara and Chikwuone (2011) reiterated that the probability of dropout among girls is 23% compared to 12% for boys, in urban areas and that drop out for girls is more prominent in rural areas than boys with 16% rate for girls and 5% for boys.

The phenomenon of girls’ premature departure from secondary schools can be viewed at different levels namely global, regional and at national levels. ii At global level, different researcher wrote on girl dropout. Rumberger (2001) explained why there is such concern for dropouts? He said that, one reason is that dropouts cost the nation money. Dropouts are less likely to find and hold jobs that pay enough money to keep them o public assistance. The pre mature departure from secondary schools is costly in terms of the low quality of life. Dropout students in the society do not have various types of life skills such as self-esteem and decision making skills which can be applied to deal with different problems in their society. At the regional level girls’ premature departure from secondary schools has been researched by Grant and Hallman (2006), who urged that in most African countries, the dropout rates for girls are still very high. Many factors account for this phenomenon the first factor is linked to cultural practices in families and societies being more likely to impose constraints on girls’ primary and secondary schools, the second factor is vulnerability to violence, both in and out of education settings and to HIV/AIDS and other diseases being major constraint. Again several African countries have not developed girls’ responsive secondary schools that address issues of sexual harassment.

UNESCO (2012) revealed that poverty still remained the main challenge to the improvement of girls’ secondary education. Since secondary education is neither free nor compulsory; school fees presents a major obstacle for parents in keeping their children in school, thus increasing the risk of girls dropping out of school. Furthermore, the low value placed on girls’ education by some parents is oen related with the high level of adult illiteracy, particularly among women. This has resulted in the strengthening of the perceptions among girls that education has low importance, therefore reinforcing the vicious circle of women’s illiteracy and girls’ low educational achievement. Finally the perceptions that benefits of education do not always translate into jobs in some countries especially for girls, coupled with the rising trend of unemployment these factors have reduced the value of education to girls in many African societies.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

According to Ricketts (2013), girls dropout from secondary school institutions can be traced from using historical perceptive of colonial African period to African countries, while some students attended schools that were run by the German government and which trained Africans to be interpreters, clerks, teachers and to fill other administrative functions within the colonial government. These opportunities were almost completely unavailable to young women. Different studies have investigated causes of girls’ dropout schools, however no study has been conducted to find out specific causes of girls dropout in secondary schools in Oyo state Nigeria. There are an increasing dropout rates for girls in Oyo state, most especially Oyo west, east and Atiba LGA. also there is an increasing participation of females in public life including government and political positions in Nigeria but there is scarcity of women in Oyo state who qualified to fit for the positions as for the majority lack education, many have dropped out of school early, therefore the main aim of this research is to find out the factors that influence secondary schools girls drop out in Nigeria, using Oyo state as a case study.