PUBLIC ATTITUDE TOWARDS WOMEN EDUCATION
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Esan North East Local Government Area with its administrative headquarters located in Uromi is one of the eighteen local government area in Edo State. The major occupation of the inhabitants if farming and this makes them view the education of their women as irrelevant but rather, women should help their parents for domestic work so that they can be good house wives in future.
It is also observed that parents pay little or not attention to the education of their women in the local government areas. As a well-known fact, education is the total process through which an individual acquires knowledge; skills and abilities to enable him or her contribute positively towards the development of the society. It is also an individual’s opportunity for employment, earning and status. An access to education is one key opportunity and should be made available not only to men but also to women. Traditionally, it was believed that women were essentially different in character from men. This was a convenient necessity because, it was maintained, they were here on earth for a different purpose than a man. Women were house makers. They nourished their families and kept them safe from the cruel world. Husbands depended on their wives to maintain solace in their homes. In an article written for freedoms sentinel, the characteristics of the feminine, mind were described as tenderness and simplicity, characteristics, which made home life more amiable to the man who had to deal with the corrupt, complex world. Men were encouraged to trust a woman as a confident and a friend.
Women expressed disappointment if they were not able to serve their husbands as mental, as well as physical, comparisons. “For if the character of women were thoroughly understood, they would be found too good to be hated and yet not good enough to be idolized”. Men could use their job to take their job to take their mind off of trouble at home, but women’s job was at home. The importance of domesticity incited a great debate over the issue of female education. For the most part, it was decided that females should receive some education, but many disagreed about the subjects to be included. Many believed a “finished” education took away from the practical knowledge required for housewives. Men feared than an emphasis on academics would take away from her domestic and the home life would suffer. Many believed that the natural and performing other household tasks. Fearing the possible upset of this order, men created a defense mechanism to keep women from venturing from the domestic sphere.
They became openly hostile against women’s education. Hostility towards women’s education was thwarted by convincing men that an educated wife could be jeopardized by a wife who could not keep house. One who had been properly trained, would not keep her husband from his business because she could not manage an house. Women were encouraged to go to school in hopes of getting a good husband. It was the issue of education and the natural order of the universe which most brought out the question of feminine inferiority. Public opinion supported the notion that virtue, innocent and submissiveness were the positive attributes of womanhood. These virtues symbolized the order of nature, which enlightened thinkers agreed, reflected the structure of the mind. Taught in a tradition, which, for their sex, emphasized sentimentally women deliberately avoided reasons. Those who argued against women’s education shared the assumption that the feminine mind had only limited capacities. People continued to evaluate the feminine intellect and its accomplishments by now directly they manifested the established female virtues.
Attitudes were harshly defined, but the roles performed were based on the practicality of performing them. For example women were forced to remain at home because their husband were expected to go out into the world, and someone had to manage the house and care for the children. If attitudes had allowed women to work outside the home, their roles may have been different, but they would still have been different, but they would still have been based on the practicality of their actors. Recent times, women of Esan East Local Government Area have strived to gain places in almost all professions using education as a propagating instrument. Despite their contribution to societal attitudes, parents have not completely changed to granting female equal educational right as their counterparts.
Therefore, the attitudes of parents towards the education of women in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State is of great concern to the researcher and should be revised to involve women in notional development.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
As observed over the years in most secondary schools and other institutions of learning, there is fewer number of female than male. Take for example, the 2006 enrolment of Efandion secondary school. Uromi confirmed that fact when the total number of female students was only three hundred and fifty (350) and the number of male students was seven hundred and thirty three (733) making up the total of students enrolled that year, that is, one thousand and eighty three (1083). Villages like Ivie, Efandion, Onewa etc to mention a few under this local government cannot boast of a reasonable number of university graduates. As a result of this, the research deems it necessary to examine the attitude of public in the local government area towards the education of their women under following.
The number of women in school and the educational level of their parents. Academic performance of male and female students in schools. Female education and parental income. The relationship between societal culture and women education.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In finding out the public and parental attitudes towards women education in Esan North East Local Government Area, the following research questions were formulated.
Does male students perform better than t he female academically? Is there any relationship between women education and parental income? Is there any relationship between societal culture and women education? Is there any social factor (s) that hinders women from completing at least their secondary education?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This research is aimed at findings out the various attitude of the public towards the education of women. Taking Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State as a case study. The researchers work will examiner the following objectives.
Find out the reasons behind such behaviour Enable parents cultivate a positive attitude towards the education of their daughters. Identify the negative attributes of women education held by parents. Enumerate the various beliefs of parents towards women education.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The research is considered important especially in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State because it will help to develop positive attitude among the general public and parents in particular towards the education of their daughters realizing the fact that if women are educated today, it will help t hem to contribute positively in the development of the society and inculcate in their future generation right attitudes that will make them fit into the present societal norms.
Again, it will also create awareness to the public on the needs to view education of their female children as an obligation that must be fulfilled.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study is designed to find out the public attitude towards the education of women and the reasons behind the believes. Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State is used as a case study, but it is not possible for this study to cover the entire length and breadth of the region under review. Therefore, the researcher focuses her attention on the following villages under the local government, Ivie, Efandion, Onewa to be a point of reference because women education is not properly developed in these regions.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Educated parents: Owner of a female child with formal education in addition to informal education.
Parent: Any person (man or women) with legal claim of ownership of a child, male or female.
Attitude: Way of thinking, feeling, behaviour, opinion or value one has for female education.
Education: formal instruction or training given to a child in secondary schools female or male.
Income: Available resources of parents earned on sales of articles or received on performance of a certain services
Social factors: All social influences that aid or hinder a parent’s attitude to education of their female children.