Woman’s Access to Education

In the world today, access to education is becoming increasingly important due to various reasons. Education helps to bring technological advancement and globalization opportunities to a country. Furthermore, education also helps to reduce the impacts of poverty in a country. Through education, the aspect of gender discrimination also comes into play in that when women are denied opportunities to access education, they can cite this as a form of gender based discrimination. In Nigeria, Woman’s Access to Education is significantly reduced despite the country being one of the most developed in Africa. The aspect of gender inequality in the entire Sub-Saharan Africa is exemplified through limited access to education among women.

Some of the factors that are highlighted for this lack of access to education include gender discrimination in terms of employment provision and remuneration and high drop-out rates among the females. Despite the government’s efforts to reduce the aspect of discrimination among the citizens, it has been difficult to achieve gender equity in the education sector. The government of Nigeria has thus come up with initiatives for the enhancement of women education since 1980 with no recognizable success.

Some of the factors that have been cited as the main causes of poor access to education among Nigerian women include cultural practices and traditions (Obasi, 2006). The traditions assert that the woman’s place is in the kitchen hence there is no need for formal education. Other reasons include religious differences and illiteracy among parents and guardians (Olujuwon, 2011). High poverty levels among the citizens also contributes to poor access to education among women since some of the societies consider education to be a form of luxury which ca n only be afforded by the lucky ones.

In order to divert the trend of illiteracy among women in Nigeria, the government of the country should take various actions. One of them would be to put in place policies that support women education. For instance, through formulation of facilities that are accommodative across cultural and religious differences, the government could promote women education in the country.

Apart from this, the Nigerian government can engage community based organizations in advocacy for women education. This could also extend to the introduction of literacy groups for parents and guardians to improve their perception about the need for education. Contrary to the Nigerian context, the UAE has high level of access to education among women. This is enhanced through government initiatives which provide free access to education at all levels for all citizens (Aswad et al., 2011).

In addition to this, factors such as the presence of many organizations that advocate for gender equality has also increased the chances for the UAE women to gain access to education. Organizations such as the General Women union which address the aspect of women empowerment in the country have done a lot to increase awareness of the need for education among women. Furthermore, the legal system in the country also supports women education through advocacy for equal opportunities for males and females in all the sectors of the country’s economy (Ibrahim, 2011).

In the UAE, cultural and social reforms have also contributed to greater access to education among women. However, the key challenge that the country still faces with regards to women education is the limitation of Islamic laws. One of the ways through which this challenge could be addressed is through community sensitization programs.

 

References

Aswad, N. G., Vidican, G., & Samulewicz. (2011). Creating a knowledge-based economy in the

United Arab Emirates: realizing the unfilled potential of women in the science, technology and engineering fields. European Journal of Engineering Education, 36 (6), 559-570.

Ibrahim, N. (2011). The UAE and higher education in the 21st Century. Emirates Center for

Strategic Studies and Research. Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Obasi, V. A. (2006). Gender educational inequality and women empowerment. NAWACS

Journal of Women Academics.

Olujuwon, T. (2011). Transforming the Nigerian education system. Retrieved August 30, 2012 from www.transforedu.org/linkclick

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