Abstract:

Gender can be referred to as the social and cultural construction of females and males identities in a given society which leads to socially constructed roles, responsibilities and obligations of, attributes about the relationships between men and women. This paper examines the inequalities and discrimination the female gender suffers which is a major infringement of the rights of women and girls and therefore a major challenge to the development process. Nigeria still has a large army of children walking the length and breadth of the country without any hope of receiving quality education. The problem oriented approach is adopted in this paper in appraising government policies and interventions since posterity is severely compromised as a result of poor quality education in Nigeria. This study is carried out using both primary and secondary data to draw conclusions via scholarly publications, books, journals and internet sources. This study observes that to encourage gender equality and parity in learning, Nigeria must aim her struggles not merely towards education itself, but also towards society’s cultural and utilitarian framework. The study alludes to UNESCO (2003) which stipulates that gender parity is attained when the same proportions of boys and girls relative to their respective age groups enter the education system, achieve set goals and advance through the different lifecycles This study therefore concludes that the socio-cultural imperatives must be properly located and dealt with else the issue of education and gender equality in Nigeria would remain unattended to.