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Review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>literature</strong> on basic education in NigeriaCHAPTER 8: GENDER AND BASIC EDUCATION8.1 IntroductionThis chapter looks at <strong>the</strong> <strong>literature</strong> on gender and education in Nigeria. As elsewhere in <strong>the</strong> world, <strong>the</strong>gender focus <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>literature</strong> is predominantly on girls and women; <strong>the</strong>re has been little considerationthus far <strong>of</strong> boys and men. This is reflected in <strong>the</strong> National Policy on Gender in Basic Education (FME2007a), which identifies <strong>the</strong> following factors as having inhibited female participation in basic education:lack <strong>of</strong> political commitment; poor planning and management; gender-insensitive teaching materialsand a gender-blind curriculum; girl-unfriendly school infrastructure, such as lack <strong>of</strong> separate toilets forgirls and boys; skewed male–female teacher ratios; gender-biased attitudes toward girls; sexualharassment; poverty; and cultural factors such as <strong>the</strong> erroneous interpretation <strong>of</strong> religious teaching. Inaddition, <strong>the</strong> Federal Ministry for Women’s Affairs and Social Development (FMWASD) has produced acompendium <strong>of</strong> best practices on improving girl-child education in Nigeria (FMWASD, 2010).There is a sizeable body <strong>of</strong> <strong>literature</strong> that predominantly considers girls’ access to schooling, whichderives from <strong>the</strong> GEP and Transforming Education for Girls in Nigeria and Tanzania (TEGINT) projects, aswell as from a few independent studies.8.2 Gender disparitiesThe focus <strong>of</strong> many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> gender initiatives, driven by <strong>the</strong> international development gender agenda, asepitomised in <strong>the</strong> MDGs and EFA goals, has been on access, i.e. on simply getting more girls and womeninto and through school, with <strong>the</strong> emphasis in <strong>the</strong> first instance on eliminating gender disparities inenrolment.Gender disparities in educational participation have been found to exist at all levels <strong>of</strong> formal educationnationally, with fewer girls than boys, on average, participating in and completing <strong>the</strong>ir basic educationand continuing into post-basic and tertiary education (NPC and ICF Macro 2009; UNDP 2009; Bakari2013; NPC and RTI International 2011; British Council 2012). These gender disparities vary considerablyacross geo-political zones, states and LGAs, as well as according to urban/rural location, socio-economicstatus, religion and o<strong>the</strong>r contextual factors.As was explained in Section 2.3, patterns <strong>of</strong> enrolment and attendance are difficult to disentangle. AsTable 8.1 in part shows, even though at a national and zonal level enrolments for girls and boys seem tobe decreasing in <strong>the</strong> public sector (except in <strong>the</strong> North West, where enrolments are increasing, albeitfrom a very low baseline), state-level enrolments vary. The state ASC data for Kano and Jigawa, forexample, show <strong>the</strong> actual number <strong>of</strong> girls in schools increasing as well as accounting for an increasinglyhigher proportion <strong>of</strong> enrolments from 2009/10 to 2011/12, accounting for about 48% and 43% <strong>of</strong> publicprimary enrolments, respectively. They comprised an even higher proportion <strong>of</strong> private schoolenrolments in Jigawa, at 51.2%.EDOREN – Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria 83
Review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>literature</strong> on basic education in NigeriaTable 8.1 Primary school enrolment* by gender and school type, 2006/07 to 2009/102006/072007/082008/092009/10Public Private TotalFemale Male Total Female Male Total Female Male Total9.4(45.9)8.7(45.8)8.7(46.0)8.8(46.3)11.1(54.1)10.3(54.2)10.2(54.0)10.2(53.7)20.5(100)19.0(100)18.9(100)19.0(100)0.6(50.0)0.5(50.0)0.6(50.0)0.8(50.0)0.6(50.0)0.5(50.0)0.6(50.0)0.8(50.0)1.2(100)1.0(100)1.2(100)1.6(100)10.0(46.1)9.2(46.0)9.3(46.3)9.6(46.4)11.7(53.910.8(54.0)10.8(53.7)11.0(53.1)21.7(100)20.0(100)20.1(100)20.7(100)* Numbers in millionsSource: FME (2011b)Gender disparities exist in terms <strong>of</strong> exam performance too. An analysis <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> NECO exam performances<strong>of</strong> female students at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> secondary school shows that results have been deteriorating in recentyears (2003–2007), with fewer female pupils reaching <strong>the</strong> threshold <strong>of</strong> five credits (British Council 2012).Numerical disparities, however, are embedded in broader societal gender inequalities (Bakari 2013),which are discussed in greater detail in Section 8.3.8.3 Barriers to girls’ schooling: key issuesMany <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> interlinked issues listed below are covered in more detail elsewhere in this <strong>review</strong>, but aresummarised here in one place. All <strong>the</strong> issues have been found to result in <strong>the</strong> non-enrolment,absenteeism and/or eventual dropping out <strong>of</strong> girls from school, and/or to affect <strong>the</strong> quality <strong>of</strong>experience that girls have in school, and/or to impact negatively on <strong>the</strong>ir schooling outcomes. In manycases, participation in schooling is affected by a combination <strong>of</strong> ‘out-<strong>of</strong>-school’ and ‘in-school’ issues. As<strong>the</strong> GEP II evaluation summarised:Barriers to ‘meaningful access’ are typically many, complex and inter-connected, occurring for differentchildren, in different combinations, at different stages in <strong>the</strong> basic education cycle (UNICEF 2012: 3).Although many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se issues affect boys too (see Section 8.6), <strong>the</strong> references given here relate toworks where <strong>the</strong> impact on girls in particular has been highlighted.8.3.1 Out-<strong>of</strong>-school issuesThe following socio-economic and socio-cultural reasons can have a negative impact on girls’ full andmeaningful participation in schooling; <strong>the</strong> findings are drawn mainly from research in nor<strong>the</strong>rn Nigeria.It should be noted that many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> following factors – such as inability to pay school fees, <strong>the</strong> need toearn money and issues <strong>of</strong> hunger and ill health – are rooted in poverty.Parental/community attitudesAmong some Muslim parents/guardians public schools are considered un-Islamic, and/or toowesternised, and/or corrupting (Chege et al. 2008; Okojie 2008; Nyemutu-Roberts et al. 2009;ActionAid 2011; UNICEF 2012; Dunne et al. 2013); Any economic ‘benefit’ from formal education will go to <strong>the</strong> husband’s home (Dunne et al. 2013);EDOREN – Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria 84
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