Gender Equality and Educational System in Nigeria

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to consider approaches to understanding and evaluating gender equality in Nigeria educational system from the perspective of concerns for gender discrimination. This task has a number of facets and complexities, because ‘gender’ is not one simple set of relationships, and the notion of gender equality in education can be read in a number of different ways. The study reviewed extant literature and deductively explored distinctively the issues in gender equality in Nigeria educational system. This paper adopted the radical feminist theory and secondary source of data collection. It sought to place in proper perspective the Nigerian national gender policy as it affects women. The study revealed that literacy rate among young women and men age 15-24 years was 59.3 per cent and 70.9 per cent in 2016 respectively. Female enrolment in Nigerian Colleges of Education was 46.1, 47.3 and 46.4 per cent (2014/2015, 2015/2016, 2016/2017 academic session). The paper also found that enrolment in Nigerian universities was 43.1 and 56.9 per cent for Female and Male (2017). The percentage of women lecturers in federal Colleges of education was 33.8 per cent for 2016/2017 academic sessions. The percentage of Female professors in Nigerian Universities was 15.43 per cent in 2017. It posited that a clear understanding of the issues raised may open new vistas for an enhanced role of the female gender in the socio-economic and educational development of Nigeria. It must be ensured that women who dropped out of school because of family responsibilities are provided with opportunity to complete their education. The integration of gender issues into all aspects of policy and planning and a mix of legislative change, advocacy and community mobilization is needed.