INVESTIGATION INTO EFFECT OF EARLY MARRIAGE AND PREGNANCY ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF FEMALE STUDENTS IN NIGERIA
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INVESTIGATION INTO EFFECT OF EARLY MARRIAGE AND PREGNANCY ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF FEMALE STUDENTS IN NIGERIA
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Pregnancy can be a life-changing experience for anyone, regardless of colour, educational attainment, or socioeconomic situation (Kost et al., 2010). Motherhood creates obligations on one’s life that did not exist before to the woman’s birth.
When a girl who should be in school becomes pregnant, her entire life might be turned upside down, with her ambitions and dreams dashed. Teenage parents are parents aged 13 to 19 (Kost et al., 2010).
Maynard (1997) believes that early pregnancy is a delinquent behaviour caused by stress, dislike, malice, boredom, and dissatisfaction in a teenage girl’s home setting. Other risk factors include alcoholism, drug addiction, sexual promiscuity, social and health issues among adolescents, and sexual abuse that leads to unwanted sex and pregnancy (Gaby, 2012).
Dilworth (2002) found a link between risk behaviours (drinking, smoking, and drug use) and the likelihood of falling pregnant among teenagers, whereas Singh and Daroch (2000) identified poverty as both a cause and an outcome of teen pregnancy and childbearing.
Early marriage before the age of 18 violates a number of international human rights charters and conventions, including the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEFADW), the 1989 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the 1990 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Women. However, many young girls in developing nations see marriage as a way to secure and preserve their future.
Girls are coerced into marriage by their families while still children, in the assumption that it will benefit them financially and socially. On the contrary, early marriage undermines children’s rights, generally with more harmful implications for girls than boys. This jeopardises their total development, leaving them socially isolated with limited or no education, skills, or chances for job and self-realization.
These situations eventually increase married females’ vulnerability to poverty. Young married females are a special group that faces significant challenges on multiple fronts. They are expected to perform a disproportionate number of domestic tasks, including new roles and obligations as spouses and mothers.
The young bride’s status in the family is frequently dependent on her demonstrating her fertility, which typically occurs within the first year of her marriage when she is not physically, psychologically, or emotionally prepared.
Girls are also expected to care for and protect future generations while still children. Young moms who lack decision-making power, mobility, and economic resources are more likely to pass on their vulnerability to their children.
As a result, early marriage exacerbates the ‘feminisation of poverty’ as well as intergenerational poverty. Several research reveal significant age differences between younger married ladies and their partners.
This age discrepancy plainly generates an unequal power dynamic between the younger bride and her older and more experienced husband, with the husband wielding complete authority over sexual encounters and decision-making.
Younger wives are socially conditioned not to question their husbands’ authority, therefore they are frequently unable to utilise contraception or plan their families.
The combination of these characteristics may make younger brides more tolerant to relationship abuse. While there is common agreement that early marriage, early pregnancy, and motherhood have a negative impact on girls’ overall development and schooling, the links to poverty and the wide-ranging ramifications for families and communities have not been thoroughly studied.
This is due in part to the ‘invisibility’ of younger married girls in most cultures, as well as the fact that marriage confers adulthood on both girls and boys (Bruce, 2002). However, many communities, particularly in Africa and South Asia, continue to believe that females should marry at or shortly after puberty.
Their spouses are often a few years older than them, but might be more than twice their age. Parents and heads of families make marital decisions for their daughters and sons with little consideration for the human consequences. Instead, many see marriage as a family-building strategy, an economic arrangement, or a means of protecting girls from unwanted sexual approaches.
Statement of the General Problem
Despite national laws and international agreements prohibiting early marriage, it remains common in many poor nations, with a high frequency in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Nigeria. This research will analyse that issue by focussing on this region of Africa (Nigeria) and using Uzo-uwani as a paradigm.
According to UNICEF, early marriage has a number of detrimental repercussions for young girls and the culture in which they reside. It violates human rights in general, and the rights of girls in particular.
Early marriage has serious physical, intellectual, psychological, and emotional consequences for both girls and boys, limiting educational and employment options as well as personal growth.
This research focusses on females because this is an issue that affects them in significantly greater numbers, with more intensity and effects. Aside from the detrimental impact on girls themselves, early marriage has negative consequences for their children, families, and society as a whole.
According to UNICEF (2000), the cost of early marriage is borne by society as a whole, not just girls. Population pressure, health-care costs, and missed opportunities for human development are just a few of the mounting consequences that society bears as a result of adolescent pregnancies. Early marriage also affects global efforts to combat poverty in poor countries.
According to Bunch (2005), the widespread practice of child marriage makes it increasingly difficult for families in the developing world to escape poverty, undermining critical international efforts to combat poverty, HIV/AIDS, and other development challenges, as well as rendering billions of dollars in development assistance ineffective.
Vesico-Virginal Fistulae (VVF) is one of the difficulties associated with early marriage in Nigeria, and it remains a severe reproductive health issue for women of childbearing age in underdeveloped countries. It is one of the most enticing tragedies that a lady might experience as a result of premature pregnancy and childbirth.
Early marriage also contributes to high maternal mortality and morbidity. According to the World Health Organisation, women aged 15 to 19 had a twice as high risk of death from pregnancy than those aged 20 to 24.
The maternal mortality rate for girls aged 10 to 14 is up to five times greater than for women over the age of twenty.This study should thus strive to address the following concerns about the developmental consequences of early marriage in Nigeria.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The primary goal of the project is to investigate the impact of early marriage and childbearing on female academic achievement in Nigeria. Other specific objectives of the study include:
To discover the causes of early marriage perpetuation and pregnancy in Nigeria.
Identify how it affects girls’ well-being and personality, as well as how it violates their human rights in Nigeria.
To look into the effects and developmental implications of early marriage and pregnancies in Nigeria.
To suggest approaches to mitigate the developmental consequences of early marriage and pregnancy.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
What are the reasons for early marriage and pregnancies among female students in Nigeria?
Do early marriage and childbearing influence female students’ academic achievement in Nigeria?
How does it effect girls’ well-being and personality, and does it violate their human rights in Nigeria?
What are the effects and developmental implications of early marriage and pregnancy among female students in Nigeria?
What are some strategies for mitigating the developmental consequences of early marriage and pregnancy among Nigerian female students?
Research Hypothesis
H0: Early marriage and pregnancy do not affect female students’ academic performance in Nigeria.
H1: Early marriage and childbearing affect the academic performance of female students in Nigeria.
Significance of the Study
The study would be extremely beneficial to the advancement of girls’ education in Nigeria since it would expose the impact of early marriages and pregnancies on girls’ academic progress. The study would also be useful for students, researchers, and academics who want to conduct additional research on the topic.
Scope and Limitations of the Study
The study is on the impact of early marriage and pregnancy on academic performance of female students in Nigeria, with the federal college of education Okene in Kogi state serving as a case study.
Limitations of the study
Financial constraints: Insufficient funds tend to restrict the researcher’s efficiency in accessing important resources, literature, or information, as well as in the process of data collecting (internet, questionnaire, and interview).
Time constraint: The researcher will conduct this investigation alongside other academic activities. This will reduce the amount of time spent on research.
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