EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF EARLY MARRIAGE ON EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF FEMALE STUDENTS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE NORTH – CENTRAL NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the Evaluation of the Impact of Early Marriage on Educational Development of Female Students in Senior Secondary Schools in North-Central, Nigeria. Specially, the study examined socio-economic background, indiscipline and cultural values (factors), the impact of early marriage and ways the scourge of early marriage could be curbed among female students in Senior Secondary Schools in North-Central, Nigeria. Three (3) research questions and three (3) hypotheses respectively guided the study. The review of related literature which was done under the conceptual framework, which indentified the causes and the impact of early marriage and ways the scourge, could be curbed students in Senior Secondary Schools. The population of the study comprised eleven thousand and eighty (4,080) teachers in 2,025 grant-aided secondary schools in North- Central States of Nigeria. A sample of six hundred and twenty (620) teachers from 30 chosen secondary schools was used for the study. A 15-items structured questionnaire developed by the researchers titled “Impact of Early Marriage and Educational Development of Female Students Questionnaire (IMEMEDFSQ)” was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviations were used to answer the research questions while Chi-square (x²) statistical tool was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that socio-economic background, indiscipline and cultural values when combined have significant causes on educational development of female students in senior secondary schools. The findings further revealed that early marriage have significant impact educational development of female students in the study area and also ways the scourge of early marriage can be curbed in senior secondary schools. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended amongst others, that Government and Educational Administrators should come up with a policy or formulate laws forbidding early marriage (below 18 years of age) and enforce sanctions on perpetrators of this human right abuse after proper-adjudication. Curriculum planners should endeavor to include sex education as part of school curriculum so as to educate students on the danger of premarital sex to their lives. Furthermore, the educational administrators should embark on massive sensitization of parents/guardians on the importance of girl child education. Conclusion were made and implication of the findings drawn.