THE CHALLENGES OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLGIRLS’ EDUCATION IN GASHUA COMMUNITY OF YOBE STATE

Abstract

Girl’s education is confronted with many notable challenges across the world, especially in the developing countries of the world. These challenges make it impossible for many girls to achieve their educational dreams or goals. This study therefore investigated challenges which cause school dropout among senior secondary school girls in Gashua community of Yobe state. The study was guided by feminist theory and adopted descriptive survey design. Data were collected through qualitative and quantitative methods. These involved ten qualitative interviews conducted among senior secondary school girls and fifty copies of questionnaire administered among senior secondary school teaches. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis, while quantitative data were analyzed using frequency distribution and percentage. Seven of the senior secondary school girls were between 15 years and 17 years and five of them were in senior secondary I. Twenty-seven of the teachers were male and nineteen of the teachers were bachelor degrees holders. Gender discrimination, parental negative influence, hawking of goods, misleading religious teachings, early marriage, poor school infrastructure, sexual harassment, social exclusion of girls and poverty were strong challenges identified in the study which cause school dropout among senior secondary school girls. Domestic chores and lack of female teachers as challenges against girls education need to be fully established in future studies. Poverty was discovered to be the outstanding challenges among others. Establishment of government girls’ secondary schools, provision of educational materials engagement of qualified teachers, creating more awareness about girls’ education at grass root level, counseling parents and students and community intervention of rich people to assist girls’ education were recommended.