review-of-the-literature-on-basic-education-in-nigeria-june-2014-3-1

Review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>literature</strong> on basic education in Nigeriaboth ‘foreign’ and insufficient so left school to beg for <strong>the</strong> next meal. A lack <strong>of</strong> instructional supervisionmeant <strong>the</strong> boys could easily slip away. Free furniture and materials such as uniforms and textbooks wasano<strong>the</strong>r strategy. Yet <strong>the</strong>y were considered ‘alien’ and, according to one government <strong>of</strong>ficer, forced allbut 50 children in one school to run away, which one teacher interpreted as a reaction to <strong>the</strong>‘westernisation’ <strong>of</strong> Qur’anic schools.Visits by interested boys from Qur’anic schools to mainstream government schools – ano<strong>the</strong>r strategy –were hampered by bullying and negative attitudes from peers from o<strong>the</strong>r ethnic groups on account <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong>ir ‘unkempt appearance, skin diseases and general lack <strong>of</strong> hygiene’ (Aw<strong>of</strong>eso et al. 2002, cited inUsman 2008).8.7 Beyond gender parityThe external evaluation <strong>of</strong> UNICEF’s GEP II highlights <strong>the</strong> need to move beyond ‘gender parity’ – whichtypifies most development efforts regarding girls’ education in Nigeria – toward ‘gender equality’.With most efforts have focused on closing <strong>the</strong> primary school enrolment gap between girls and boys,insufficient attention has been paid to factors contributing to or constraining retention andachievement, <strong>the</strong> quality and relevance <strong>of</strong> education, or <strong>the</strong> gendered aspects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> same (UNICEF2012: xiii).The report goes on to state:There is need to look at <strong>the</strong> more complex processes that take place within schools and communities, thatcontribute to or constrain <strong>the</strong> health, safety, personal development, wellbeing and relevant learning <strong>of</strong> girls,and boys (ibid.: xiii).Such a change essentially means focusing on <strong>the</strong> ‘gender regimes’ <strong>of</strong> schools (Kessler et al. 1985),looking at <strong>the</strong> taken-for-granted rules and processes that both inscribe and produce gender relations.These gender regimes are located within <strong>the</strong> wider ‘gender order’ (Connell 1987) <strong>of</strong> society, whichincludes o<strong>the</strong>r social institutions such as <strong>the</strong> family, community, religion and government. In Nigeriansociety, according to <strong>the</strong> Federal Ministry <strong>of</strong> Women’s Affairs and Youth Development in 2000, ‘<strong>the</strong>synchronized effect <strong>of</strong> traditional, colonial and religious patriarchy produces deeply entrenched genderstratification’ (Para-Mallam 2010: 249).The GEP II evaluation also highlighted <strong>the</strong> fact that ‘<strong>the</strong> gender parity approach does not sufficientlyengage boys and men in confronting norms and attitudes that perpetuate inequality’ (UNICEF 2012: xiii).In this respect, <strong>the</strong>re are perhaps lessons that can be learned from <strong>the</strong> internationally renownedConscientizing Male Adolescents (CMA) programme (see Box 8.3), which has been running for a number<strong>of</strong> years in Cross River State, and later Akwa Ibom, in <strong>the</strong> South East (Girard 2003). Although <strong>the</strong>programme involves older adolescent males, <strong>the</strong> notion <strong>of</strong> engaging males in discussions and activitiesrelated to gender and power relations is one way <strong>of</strong> helping to address <strong>the</strong> issue.Box 8.3 Conscientizing Male Adolescents – a programme in South East NigeriaInitiated in 1995 in Calabar, Cross River State, by respected journalist Eddie Madunagu, this long-termprogramme focuses on sexism and developing adolescent males’ critical thinking. The programmewas initially designed to complement <strong>the</strong> Girls’ Power Initiative (GPI; see www.gpinigeria.org) fromwhich it drew on initially, but has subsequently evolved in its own right. As Madunagu explained:… he felt concern for <strong>the</strong> GPI girls, who, with all <strong>the</strong>ir newly acquired knowledge, would have to face‘uneducated’ boys and patriarchal families. ‘There is no point <strong>of</strong>fering prayers and supplications tosomeone who is ignorant . . . Women cannot achieve liberation by supplication.’ Madunagu was alsothinking <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> boys’ own development and growth. He explains, ‘It is also necessary to let boys knowthat ultimately, men cannot win and cannot be truly happy and liberated as long as <strong>the</strong>y hold down aEDOREN – Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria 96