CURBING GENDER INEQUALITY IN GIRL-CHILD ACCESS TO FORMAL SCHOOL ENROLMENT IN SOKOTO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The paper was extracted from an institutional based research report on gender sensitive situation analysis on gender and girl-child access to education in Sokoto State. The paper assessed ways in curbing gender inequality in girl-child formal school enrolment in Sokoto State. In Nigeria, significant progress could be said to have been achieved in closing the gender gap in access to education in many parts of the country, the progress could be said to be visible only at the primary and secondary levels of education. At the tertiary educational level, a huge inequality still exists between males and females. Various policies had been enacted but some of these policies proved futile. The study provided answer on the efforts being made to improve girl-child/gender enrolment in education in Sokoto State. The study employed a mixed research methodology using quantitative and qualitative methods in generating data for the study. 1,283 Questionnaires were distributed to relevant stakeholders while 12 IDIs and KIIs were conducted with officials of the Agency for Female Education, Ministry of Education and officials of the selected schools and FGDs conducted with female adolescents. A purposive sampling procedure was adopted in the selection of respondents. Qualitative findings from the study were analyzed thematically while the quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Based on the findings, the study discovered government created a ministry for female education. The study recommended government to massively recruit female teachers to serve as source of encouragement and to reduce the inequality in the employment vacuum created.