THE EFFECTS OF EARLY MARRIAGE PRACTICE ON EDUCATION FOR GIRLS IN NIGERIA
The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of early marriage on the educational development of female students in senior secondary schools in North-Central Nigeria. The study specifically looked at socioeconomic background, indiscipline, and cultural values (factors), the impact of early marriage, and ways to combat the scourge of early marriage among female students in Senior Secondary Schools in North-Central Nigeria.
The study was guided by three (3) research questions and three (3) hypotheses. The review of related literature conducted under the conceptual framework identified the causes and impact of early marriage, as well as ways the scourge could be curtailed among students in Senior Secondary Schools.
The study’s population consisted of 11,080 teachers from 2,025 grant-aided secondary schools in Nigeria’s North-Central States. The study used a sample of six hundred and twenty (620) teachers from 30 different secondary schools. The researchers used a 15-item structured questionnaire titled “Impact of Early Marriage and Educational Development of Female Students Questionnaire (IMEMEDFSQ)” to collect data.
To answer the research questions, descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviations were used, while the Chisquare (x2) statistical tool was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance.
The findings revealed that, when combined, socioeconomic background, indiscipline, and cultural values have significant effects on the educational development of female students in senior secondary schools.
Furthermore, the findings revealed that early marriage has a significant impact on the educational development of female students in the study area and also ways to combat the scourge of early marriage in senior secondary schools
Based on the study’s findings, it was recommended, among other things, that the government and educational administrators develop a policy or draft legislation prohibiting early marriage (before the age of 18) and impose sanctions on perpetrators of this human rights violation after proper adjudication.
Curriculum planners should make an effort to incorporate sex education into school curricula in order to educate students about the dangers of premarital sex in their lives. Furthermore, educational administrators should begin a massive campaign to educate parents/guardians about the importance of girl child education. Conclusions were reached, and the implications of the findings were deduced.
Early Marriage, Educational Development, Female Students, Cultural Values
Nigeria’s North-Central Region
Introduction
The issue of early marriage and its impact on female students’ education has piqued the interest of human rights activists and international organizations. Marriage, as the integral union of a man and a woman for socioeconomic, psychological, and procreation reasons, is as old as man’s history on Earth. Early marriage, also known as child marriage, is defined by the United Nations (2006) in Bayisenge (2010) as any legal marriage or cohabitation between two parties where one or both parties are under the age of 18.
However, in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, early marriage is common among females who are physically, physiologically, and psychologically prepared to shoulder the responsibilities of marriage and child bearing. Child marriage, according to Elujekwute (2011), involves either one or both spouses being children and can occur with or without formal registration and under civil, religious, or customary laws.
According to Phinney (2008), marriage is primarily intended for people who have reached the age of 18 and are physically, socially, and psychologically mature, capable of dealing with social and economic situations. According to
the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW), early marriage has a number of negative consequences for both teenage girls and boys, as well as the society in which they live, ranging from educational stagnation, poverty, health care, and maternal mortality, among other things.
Elujekwute also believes that early marriage violates human rights in general, and girls’ rights in particular. Early marriage has profound physical, emotional, intellectual, and psychological consequences for both girls and boys. This impedes effective and efficient educational development and productive opportunities for individuals for national growth and development, according to Bunch (2008).
Marriage at a young age interferes with one’s academic pursuit. As a result, married women are more likely to achieve lower levels of education or to discontinue formal education. Marriage during adolescence is common in Nigeria’s North-Central region.
Despite national laws and international agreements prohibiting early marriage, this phenomenon persists in many parts of Nigeria, particularly in the North-Central region, where traditional and religious practices are strong.
Early marriage, according to Wegh (2009), is more common in northern Nigeria, where many parents prefer to give their daughters away at a young age for cultural and economic reasons. This has increased the rate of illiteracy and poverty among females in North-Central Nigeria, as well as in society as a whole.
According to Omotayo (2015), girls who have dropped out of school or were never enrolled in the first place are more likely to be pushed into early marriage, which prevents them from starting or resuming their education.
According to Bayisenge (2015), early marriage is caused by a variety of factors, including the desire for economic survival, the protection of young girls, peer group and family pressures, sexuality, wars, civil conflicts, socio-cultural, religious values, and the control of female behavior, among others.
It is a violation of a girl’s human rights because it deprives her of freedom, opportunities for personal development, and other societal rights. This practice directly contradicts the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) objectives such as promoting basic education, combating poverty, preventing HIV/AIDS, and lowering maternal mortality rates (UNICEF, 2015).
According to Bunch (2008), the widespread practice of child marriage makes it increasingly difficult for families in the developing world to escape poverty due to low income, undermining critical international efforts to combat illiteracy, HIV/AIDS, and other development challenges.
According to Samara (2008), women who marry at a young age are more likely to make motherhood a priority in their lives at the expense of formal education development and job training. Samara goes on to say that early marriage exposes girls to a slew of social and economic challenges, such as divorce and prostitution.
Early marriage inevitably deprives school-age children of their right to an education that is necessary for their personal development, preparation for adulthood, and contribution to the future well-being of their family and society.
According to Elujekwute (2011), indiscipline among female students is what causes most Nigerian parents to prefer early marriage over girl child education. Elujekwute goes on to say that most female students start having sex with male classmates, teachers, and other members of the community as early as secondary school.
As a result, this immoral behavior leads to unwanted pregnancy, early marriage, or contact with sexually transmitted diseases (STD). According to Landis (2015), most young girls abandon education and rush into marriage due to their family’s inability to sponsor their education, while others do so as a result of an unwanted pregnancy or due to a high level of poverty.
Most female students who drop out of school for marriage believe or are convinced that they will continue with formal education later in life. However, according to Elujekwute (2011), female child education after marriage is dependent on the husband’s sympathy.
Many husbands are adamant about educating or sending their wives to school for a variety of reasons, including economic, social, and cultural factors. Elujekwute goes on to say that even fortunate women who have had the opportunity find it difficult to balance academic work with marital or domestic responsibilities.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Concerns have been expressed by stakeholders in North-Central Nigeria, particularly educational administrators, parents, and students, about issues of early marriage among female students in senior secondary schools, which persist in Nigeria despite states’ and the federal government’s demonstrated commitment to Universal Basic Education, and higher education opportunities for female students vary in urban and rural areas.
According to the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), 60 percent of female children are denied the right to an education due to early marriage among female students. According to the report, this trend is associated with a poor economic situation, cultural values, and indiscipline (premarital sex)
This appears to be the cause of an increase in cases among mothers under the age of 18 in Nigeria’s North-Central region. It is speculated that the quality of education attained by girls in Nigeria’s North-Central region remains low because the majority of them marry before or during their secondary school education.
Due to the combination of marital challenges and academic rigor, some women who return to school after marriage at a young age may not achieve excellent performance. As a result, married students in these states perform worse in school, and some who are unable to continue with formal education due to a low socioeconomic family background choose peasant farming and petty-trade as their occupation.
To make a living, some people resort to hawking on the streets, in beer joints, and in public places. There is a cultural belief that parents in North-Central Nigeria, particularly Tiv and Hausa people, give out a female child to marriage at any age for economic support of the family as well as social recognition (respect and security) of the female child.
As a result, this paper seeks to assess the impact of early marriage on the educational development of female students in Senior Secondary Schools in Nigeria’s North-Central region.
The Study’s Purpose
The goal of this study is to assess the impact of early marriage on the educational development of female students in senior secondary schools in Nigeria’s North-Central region.
The study specifically sought to: 1. Examine the relative contribution of socioeconomic background, indiscipline, and cultural values as causes of early marriage on the educational development of female senior secondary students in North-Central, Nigeria.
2. Determine the impact of early marriage on the educational development of female secondary school students.
3. Determine strategies for reducing the scourge of early marriage among female students in senior secondary schools.
Research PROBLEMS
The study was guided by the following research questions:
(1) What is the relative impact of socioeconomic background, indiscipline, and cultural values as causes of early marriage on the educational development of female students in senior secondary schools in North-Central Nigeria?
(2) To what extent does early marriage affect the educational development of female senior secondary school students?
(3) How can the scourge of early marriage be mitigated in terms of female students’ educational development in senior secondary school?
Hypotheses for Research
At the 0.05 level of significance, the following research hypotheses were developed and tested.
1. There is no significant effect of the relative contribution of socioeconomic background, indiscipline, and cultural values causes of early marriage on the educational development of female students in senior secondary schools in North-Central Nigeria.
2. Early marriage has no significant impact on the educational development of female students in Senior Secondary Schools.
3. There is no discernible impact of ways to reduce the scourge of early marriage on the educational development of female students in Senior Secondary Schools.
The Problem’s Importance
The study’s significance would be important for education stakeholders such as school administrators, government, parents/guardians, students, and the general public to understand the negative impact of early marriage on the educational development of female students in senior secondary schools.
With this information, the government and educational institution administrators can devise strategies for implementing the study’s recommendations in the effective management of early marriage on the educational development of female students in schools.
Again, the study’s findings and recommendations may expose to the larger society the roles of public-spirited individuals and non-governmental organizations in mitigating the impact of early marriage on female students’ educational development in schools.
With this knowledge, all stakeholders will be able to play important roles in reducing the scourge of early marriage among female students in schools, so that it does not have a negative impact on the larger society. Finally, the study would be useful to educational planners as well as those who wish to conduct research on a related topic and make recommendations to policymakers.
THE EFFECTS OF EARLY MARRIAGE PRACTICE ON EDUCATION FOR GIRLS IN NIGERIA
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