Title:
GIRLS PERCEPTION OF SOCIO-CULTURAL PRACTICES AND BELIEFS AS IMPEDIMENTS TO GIRL'S SCHOOLING IN BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Authors:
Assoc. Prof. Nwosu, Ngozi P.; Anzaa, Jonathan Tyodaa ; Nyitse, Mark

Volume:1 Issue: 9

Abstract:
This study investigated how girls perceive socio-cultural practices and beliefs as impediments to girl's schooling in Kwande and Ushongo LGAs of Benue state, Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. A sample of 520 girls was selected randomly from a population of 883 secondary school girls in six Government Secondary Schools for the two LGAs. The instrument of the study was developed by the researchers and validated. It is a structured questionnaire. The reliability coefficient of 0.91 of the instrument was determined by Cronbach alpha procedure. The data analysis was conducted using SPSS IBM-version 20. Research questions were answered using means and standard deviations. The findings of the study showed that girls perceived: withdrawal of girls from school for early marriage, girls are married young or may be defiled, girls work to increase family budget among others, as socio-cultural practices that impede girl's schooling. They also perceived the beliefs that: girls are not future breadwinners or heads of their families, education of a girl ends in the kitchen and a girl will eventually marry outside her family as impediments to girl's schooling. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that governments should make a law prohibiting early marriage and discrimination against girls on the basis of gender.

Citation:

[Tyodaa, Anzaa, Jonathan, et al. "GIRLS PERCEPTION OF SOCIO-CULTURAL PRACTICES AND BELIEFS AS IMPEDIMENTS TO GIRL'S SCHOOLING IN BENUE STATE, NIGERIA." IJAH, vol. 1, no. 9, 2017, pp. 721-734. October.]