African Population Studies/Etude de la Population Africaine, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2006, pp.55-70
Changing Perceptions of the Value of Daughters and Girls
Education among the Isoko of Nigeria
Patrick A. Edewor
Department of Sociology, CovenantUniversity, P. M. B. 1023, OtaOgun State, Nigeria
Code Number: ep06004
Abstract
This paper
examines the changes in parents perception on the value of daughters and
their education. It utilizes information generated from Focus Group
Discussions in two urban and four rural Isoko communities in DeltaState, southern Nigeria. Eight Focus
Groups were constituted in each of the towns and villages (four for men and
four for women). The groups were homogeneous in terms of sex, age and
educational level. It is observed that parents perception on the value of
daughters is changing because adult daughters have been found to be more caring
and more supportive of aged parents than adult sons. Consequently, parents
now consider the education of daughters as very rewarding since educated
daughters become better equipped to provide support to their parents. The
changing attitudinal disposition towards girls education has implication for
the enhancement of womens status and fertility decline.
Key Words: Changing perceptions, value
of daughters, girls education, womens status, fertility, Isoko, Nigeria
Introduction
The preference for male
children is one of the major causes of high fertility in most countries of Africa
(Isiugo-Abanihe, 1994a; 1994b). The preference for a particular sex derives
from the perceived value or benefits of that particular sex to parents (Karki,
1988). Among the Isoko of Delta State, southern Nigeria, as in many parts of
Nigeria, male children are valued for their role in retaining or perpetuating
family name, staying permanently in or near family compound or residence,
provision of old-age security and serving as a source of defence and social
prestige to parents. When young, male children render assistance to their
parents in terms of helping on the farm, helping parents in their businesses,
running errands and, to a lesser extent, performing some household chores. On
the other hand, female children particularly assist their mothers in a range of
household chores including cooking, washing plates and clothes, sweeping and
cleaning house as well as baby minding (Edewor, 2001; Orubuloye, 1987).
Parents
perceptions of these benefits of male and female children influence their
fertility attitudes and preferences as well as actual fertility. The preference
for sons causes parents to have many children in the bid to have at least a son
to perpetuate family name and also to inherit family property (Orubuloye, 1987;
Isiugo-Abanihe, 1994a; 1994b; Edewor et al, 1997; Edewor, 2001).
Although the
traditional role of female children and women still persists in several
spheres, changes are beginning to occur in parents perception on the value of
daughters and the status of women in Isoko society. These changing perceptions
are altering the attitudinal disposition of parents towards girl children in
general and girls education in particular. Education has been one major area
in which girls have been systematically more disadvantaged than boys, simply
because of gender discrimination which often begins at the earliest stages of
life (United Nations, 1994). Traditional beliefs and practices are often at the
root of this gender gap. Girls are kept at home to supplement family welfare by
working and caring for siblings and household (Muller, 2000).
Aside from
these, in many developing countries, daughters are withdrawn from schools at
puberty, for fear of unwanted pregnancy, and are married off early to husbands
they do not necessarily want (Muller, 2000). This gender discrimination in
education is not limited to the less developed countries of Africa. In some parts
of Asia, as in China, continued and
fast economic growth is not accompanied by dramatic change in traditional
value, and many peasants still hold son preference value. For example,
utilizing census data and drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Beijing and its
suburbs, Wang (2005) examined childrens educational opportunities and observed
that continued son preference value, based on traditional views and perceived
financial returns to families, leads to a lower educational attainment among
daughters. This was particularly so in the rural areas of China. Yet, as the
Progress of Nations (UNICEF, 1994) asserts:
There is
widespread agreement that the education of girls is one of the most important
investments that any developing country can make in its own future. In the long
term, almost every other aspect of progress, from nutrition to family planning,
from child health to womens rights, is profoundly affected by whether or not a
nation educates its girls.
A number of
reasons account for the preference for the education of boys relative to girls.
First, sons typically are responsible for supporting parents in their old age.
This, therefore, makes the education of sons more attractive to parents. As
such the costs of education, both direct costs (e.g. school fees, books,
uniforms, etc.) and opportunity costs (e.g. loss of household help and in some
cases, wages) are more readily absorbed for
sons than daughters (Hadden
and London, 1996). Second, the thought that girls, upon marriage, join their
husbands family and take with them the benefits of education, makes parents to
have little incentives to bear the costs of educating their daughters (Hill and
King, 1993; Bellew et al., 1992; Herz et al., 1991; Mensch and
Lloyd, 1997, Edewor, 2001). These constraints to female education operate
almost exclusively at the household level (Hadden and London, 1996).
In their study
of the demographic, basic needs and economic benefits of educating girls in the
third world, Hadden and London (1996) have observed that both boys and
girls must have equal access to primary and secondary education if education is
to have the desired depressive effect on fertility. They also made a similar
observation with respect to health and mortality. Primary and secondary
education of boys or girls had mortality reducing and, by implication, health
enhancing effects. Girls education had the strongest impact on infant and
child mortality. This is not surprising as females usually have most direct
responsibility over infants and children. Infant and child mortality had the
greatest reductions in countries where both boys and girls have similar
enrolment rate in primary and secondary school but these reductions were either
lost or diminished in those countries in which girls enrolment lagged behind
those of boys. Hadden and London (1996) concluded that in the third world,
education in general, and girls education in particular, has wide ranging
beneficial effects on the demographic, social and economic development patterns
of nations. Despite these benefits of girls education, preference had always
been given to boys education in most traditional African societies including
the Isoko society of Nigeria. However, parents are beginning to be aware
of the benefits of daughters and are thus changing their perceptions on the
value of daughters and girls education. This paper examines the role of girl
children and women in traditional Isoko society, the changing perceptions on
the value of daughters and girls schooling as well as the implication of these
for the status of women and fertility.
Methods
Isoko people
inhabit two Local Government Areas namely: Isoko North and Isoko South in DeltaState of Nigeria. With the
exception of the two Local Government Headquarters (Ozoro and Oleh), all other
communities in the area are rural. The information on which this paper is based
was generated from Focus Group Discussions conducted in the two urban areas
(Oleh and Ozoro) and four other rural areas (Aviara, Emevor, Olomoro and Oyede)
Isoko communities of DeltaState, southern Nigeria. The Focus
Group Discussions were on parents perception on the value of children. Eight
groups (four for men and four for women) were constituted in each community.
The groups were homogeneous in terms of sex, age and educational level of
participants. Thus, the groups for men comprised men aged 20-39 years with
primary or less education (young men with low level of education); men aged
20-39 years with secondary or more education (young men with high level of
education); men aged 40-60 years with primary or less education (old men with low
level of education); and men aged 40-60 years with secondary or more education
(old men with high level of education).
The groups for
women comprised women aged 15-29 years with primary or less education (young
women with low level of education); women aged 15-29 years with secondary or
more education (young women with high level of education); women aged 30-49
years with primary or less education (old women with low level of education);
and women aged 30-49 years with secondary or more education (old women with
high level of education). There were 48 groups altogether. Each group was
composed of between six and ten persons and each discussion session lasted for
about an hour.
Topics
discussed include, among other things, the importance of children to parents,
attitude to childlessness and infertility, the role of parents and their
responsibilities toward children in the past and present as well as advantages
and disadvantages of large and small number of children. Other themes covered
include ideal and desired family size, sex preference, education of male and
female children in the past and present as well as the types of help normally
rendered by male and female children when young and when they have become
adults. The rest of this paper is devoted to findings on aspects related to the
topic of this paper and it focuses mainly on the role of female children and
women in traditional Isoko society, the changing perceptions on the value of
daughters, and consequently, the changing
perceptions on girls education. These are discussed vis-à-vis the implications
for womens status, empowerment and fertility.
The role of female children and women in traditional
Isoko society
The Isoko
society is, basically, a patriarchal and patrilineal one characterized by the
dominance of men in virtually all spheres of life. Women in traditional Isoko
society were expected to be subservient to their husbands. Mens views on
family matters and reproduction took the upper hand over those of women. The
social norms which supported these gender
relations were culturally
transmitted from one generation to another through the process of
socialization. From childhood, a girl internalized these social norms,
including those that defined womens status as subordinate to those of men. She
grew up to become an obedient and good wife so to speak. Female autonomy
was virtually non-existent.
The Isoko
society was, and still is, basically rural with agriculture as the main
occupation. Crops mainly grown are cassava, yam, maize, plantain (as food
crops) and rubber (as a cash crop). Owing to the dominance of oil palm in the
vegetation of the area, oil palm collection for palm oil processing is widely
engaged in. Fishing is also a major occupation among those who live near the AseRiver which bounds
the area on the eastern part (Ikime, 1971).
Division of
labour in traditional Isoko society was mainly on the basis of gender. While
farm brushing and land preparation, including the making of ridges, was mainly
the work of men (assisted by their sons), women and daughters did the planting,
weeding, harvesting, processing and marketing of farm produce. The wives and
daughters of men who were palm collectors also assisted in carrying bunches of
harvested palm fruits to processing units and also marketed the palm oil after
processing. With the advent of schooling, male children were given the
opportunity of attending school while the female children remained at home,
either baby-minding or assisting their mothers in the above mentioned activities
and frying gari (cassava flour), the major food processing activity in
the area. These activities, together with the low value attached to girls
education, as we shall soon show, accounted for the preference for sons
education. Greater value was placed on sons, whose education was perceived to
be more beneficial to parents than that of daughters. The perceived value of
daughters to parents is, however, changing as discussed in the next section.
Changing perceptions on the value of
daughters
The changing
perceptions on the value of daughters among parents in Isoko society basically
derives from the realization of the immense benefits of daughters to parents.
Both fathers and mothers have come to realize that there is nothing a boy can
do that a girl cannot do for parents. Indeed, there is a general consensus
among both men and women that female children are of greater benefits to
parents, in many respects, than male children. This is in the sense that they
have been found to be more caring for aged parents; they visit parents more
regularly and they give more financial support to parents
than do adult
male children. Discussing the helps normally rendered by female children when
young and when they have become adults, male Focus Group Discussants aged 40 - 60
years (with primary or less education) in Oleh (an urban community and the
Local Government Headquarters for Isoko South), gave the following responses:
Mr. A: Young
female children assist in the performance of household chores: They sweep the
house, fetch water and follow their parents to the farm.
Mr. B: When they
have become adults and are married, they send food and clothing to their
parents.Mr. C: The adult female children care more for their parents than do
their male counterparts. When the male children have become married, they tend
to care more for their wives, children and in-laws.
Discussing the
helps rendered by female children when young and when they have become adults,
Ozoro women aged 15 - 29 years (with primary or less education) had this to say
with respect to young female children:
Mrs. A: They
help in hawking and selling in market stalls. They also help with the cooking
until their parents return from farm. They render these helps after returning
from school.
Mrs. B: They help
their mother in the performance of household chores such as cooking, sweeping
and washing plates and clothes.
When the female
children have become adults,
Mrs. A: They
could visit their parents from their husbands house, and if the mother is ill,
they clean up the house and wash the parents clothes, cook and leave money
behind. They could even buy a bag of rice for the parents.
Mrs. B: It is
exactly the way she has said it. Girls easily remember parents than boys do.
Girls are more rewarding these days. In the past, it was boys they considered
beneficial.
In Oyede, a
rural community, men aged 20 39 years (with primary or less education) expressed
the following views:
Mr. A: Adult
girls normally favour their mother more than their father. They mostly send hot
drinks to their father. I have two sisters who are married to Urhobo men. They
always send hot drinks to my father. I even helped him to sell two of such
recently. But they always send wrappers to my mother. Before they could send
one dress the father, they would have sent about three to the mother. So, they
cheat the fathers.
Mr. B: They
normally send money to the parents. They are more caring than their male
counterparts. This may be as a result of the fact that they have changed names.
They also visit
the parents on a regular basis. When the parents are sick, they visit and spend
quality time with them. The male would only stay for a day, provide the drugs
and off he goes.
Adult sons are
normally saddled with a lot of responsibilities the moment they get married.
They bear most of the costs of raising their children, including the costs of
childrens food, the costs of childrens education, the costs of childrens
medical care, the costs of housing and that of transport. Only the costs of
childrens clothing are mainly borne by their wives (Edewor, 2001).
As a result of
the greater proportion of these costs borne by adult married sons, it is
extremely difficult for them to meet their parents expectations regarding
provision of financial support and other kinds of expected help. However,
parents seem to be of the view that male children are simply not caring. This
is not to say that adult male children do not render help to their aged
parents. The point is that, relative to adult daughters, they render less
assistance and they are not as sympathetic and caring as adult female children.
Not only do female children pay regular visits, they stay with their parents
for a longer period when they visit, especially when the parents are sick. They
show more affection and provide more financial support than sons do to their
parents. As a result of these perceived benefits of daughters, the preference
for male children appears to be gradually declining although not completely
obliterated. The changing perceptions on the value of daughters are also reflected
in a changing perception on the education of girls.
Changing perceptions on girls schooling
Participants in
Focus Groups were asked to comment on the attitude of parents towards the
education of male and female children in the past and present and also account
for the changing perceptions among parents, on the education of male and female
children. In Ozoro (an urban community and Local Government Headquarters for
Isoko North), men aged 40 60 years with primary or less education remarked as
follows on the education of male and female children in the past and present:
Mr. A: In the
past, it was boys that were mainly sent to school. This was because it was
thought that the girl would merely be educated for her husband. But nowadays,
it is even better to train a girl than to train a boy.
Mr. B: One
should train his children irrespective of sex. It is the ones that are
level-headed that should be trained.
Mr. C: I have a
son who already has children. I also have a daughter who finished from
secondary school. She is now married. She sends money to me but the boy doesnt
send anything. He only concentrates on his wife and children. Is it not better
to train girls?
Mr. D: After the
boys marry and have children, they forget you.
Mr. E: It
depends on ones destiny. Some boys look after their parents and some girls dont.
That is why one should have both sex and also have many children.
In the same community, women aged 30 49
years with secondary or more education made the following remarks:
Mrs. A: In the
past, it was boys that were mainly sent to school. It was felt that if the girls
were sent to school, they would become pregnant and their schooling would be
terminated and the money spent on their education would become wasted. That was
why girls were not sent to school in the past. But parents now send them to
school. It is only those who are not intelligent that go to learn a trade.
Mrs. B: It was
also felt that an educated girl would eventually be given out in marriage and
she would change name. If she becomes a news caster on radio, it is her
husbands name that would be popularized, not that of the person who educated
her. These were the reasons why girls were not sent to school in the past. But
nowadays, girls are trained to any level as long as the ability is there.
Mrs. C: It was
ignorance that made people not to send their girls to school in the past because
even after a girl is married, she could still be of benefit to you.
Mrs. D: It was
actually ignorance. People have now realized that a daughter is more rewarding
than a son. The moment a boy gets married, he would only concentrate on his
wife and in-laws. But a girl would always remember her parents. Even though
girls still get pregnant in school, when they give birth, they continue
with their
schooling. I know a girl in class 4 who got pregnant. After she had the baby,
her mother had to take over the baby so she could return to school
. Many women
who did that for their daughters who got pregnant in school are now enjoying
the benefits.
Still in the
same town, a female discussant in a group whose members were aged 30 49 years
with primary or less education remarked as follows:
In the past,
when people gave birth to children, they neededto have both
male and female children. The practice was that only male children were sent to
school. But we have now discovered that the education of girls is more rewarding
than that of boys. This is because the girl can send the wrapper or dress she
is no more using to you, the mother. But the boys, they only concentrate on
their in-laws
. Because of this, I would rather send my daughter to a higher
institution than do my son. All the wrappers I have at home were brought to me
by my daughters.
In Oyede (a
rural community in Isoko North LGA), men aged 20 39 years with primary or
less education gave the following responses as they discussed on the education
of male and female children in the past and present.
Mr. A: In the
past, preference was given to the education of boys because it was felt that
the moment a girl gets married, she leaves for another family; she would leave
for her husbands place. But nowadays, things are no longer so. The education
of boys and girls is rewarding.
Mr. B: Another
reason why it was thought that the education of a girl was a waste is that it
was felt that her education would end up in the kitchen. While the boys went to
school, the girls were made to stay at home to look after their younger siblings.
But now, we have realized the importance of sending girls to school because if
you get to offices and you see educated women neatly dressed and with a pen in
their hand, matching round the whole place, you will admire them. One would
regret not having sent her daughter to school.
Mr. C: Another
thing is that because farming is our main occupation, the girls did a lot of
weeding of farms. When the boys went to school, the girls were taken to the
farm and it was one of the hindrances to girls education. But nowadays, as the
boys wear their shorts to go to school, the girls also wear their skirts and do
the same.
Mr. D: Another
reason is that a lot of these girls got pregnant in school after spending so
much on their education. Such money became wasted and this discouraged a lot of
parents on the education of girls. Although girls still get pregnant in school
today, when they put to bed, the parents collect the baby while the girls go
back to school. This is because parents have realized that an educated daughter
would be very helpful in future.
The above
remarks represent the views expressed by Focus Group Discussants in all the
other communities covered in this study. As can be seen, preference was given
to sons education in the past. Female children were not sent to school because
it was felt that their education would ultimately benefit their husbands and
not the girls parents or immediate kins. Orubuloye (1987) and Edewor et al
(1997) had made similar observations among the Yoruba. It was felt that a
womans education only ends up in the kitchen. Besides, parents felt that it was
not worth it after all because girls soon got married and changed names; after
acquiring a high level of education, a girl goes on to project the name of her
husbands family rather than her own fathers name. Aside from these, parents
entertained the fear of their daughters becoming pregnant in school and
consequently causing the financial investment in their education to become
wasted. Pre-marital pregnancy was rampart especially among the few daughters
who went to school. Pregnancy could, and in actual fact did, terminate girls
schooling. This brought discouragement to parents who would have been
interested in sending their daughters to school, even in spite of the then
perceived lower benefits derivable from girls schooling.
Tremendous
changes have, however, occurred with respect to girls education. Almost equal
opportunities are now given to both boys and girls in terms of their education.
The preference for sons education is fast disappearing. Parents have now
realized that the education of female children could equally be as rewarding,
in fact more rewarding than that of male children. There was a general
consensus among Focus Group Discussants that the non-education of female
children in the past was as a result of ignorance on the part of parents.
Although pre-marital sex is rampant among school girls, perhaps even on the
increase, a lot of girls know how to prevent a pregnancy. In the event that
pregnancy occurs, it
could be terminated.
Pregnancies not terminated are carried to term and the girl returns to school
after delivery. Whereas pregnancy and child birth abruptly terminated a girls
schooling in the past, things have changed. The mothers of such girls receive
the baby while the girl goes back to school.
A major benefit
of children to parents in the past and present is that of the provision of
old-age security. In parental calculations, an educated child becomes equipped
to provide his/her parents with support especially financial support - at old
age. Parents who strove to ensure that their children acquired substantial
education, especially up to the tertiary level, did so mainly because of
the expectation of future reward or gain that would accrue to them (the
parents) and the social prestige associated with being the father or mother of
a highly placed person in society. Education remains the major tool or avenue
for upward social mobility.
Parents appear
to have realized that education enhances the status of women in society, who in
turn, are better equipped to provide their parents with the much needed old-age
security support. The realization among Isoko parents, of the fact that adult
daughters are sympathetic towards their aged parents and the fact that they
have been found to be more supportive than their male counterparts, makes it
economically rational, in parental calculations, to invest in girls schooling.
Children remain
the major source of old-age support among Isoko people. Rural respondents and women
more readily mention children as a means of old-age support. In a survey of
Isoko people, Edewor (2001) observed that 96 percent of the respondents expect
financial help from their children; 91 percent would still expect such help
from children after the children have become married. Women and rural
respondents are more likely to expect financial help from children. Expectation
of financial help is, however, inversely related to education, income and age
at first marriage while it is positively related to ideal and desired family
size. These expectations, and more importantly, the perceived benefits of adult
female children in the present day, majorly account for the changing
perceptions on the value of daughters and, consequently, the changing perceptions
on the value of girls education, given the fact that adult female children are
meeting these obligations more than adult male children.
Implications for womens status and
fertility
The realization
of the importance of girls education, which has resulted in increased female
participation in education, has far reaching implications for the status of
women1. As observed earlier, education remains the main tool for
social mobility and the major instrument for the enhancement of social status.
Given the fact that education enhances a persons status, it is expected that
with more widespread schooling for female children, Isoko women would, in the
future, have their status changed for the better.
Education is also a major
tool for the political and economic empowerment of women. The empowerment of
women has been noted to be a step in the right direction toward the improvement
of womens reproductive health. This is because it brings about a more
egalitarian relationship in reproductive decision-making. Education would
liberate women from such harmful traditional practices as female genital
mutilation and their marginalized position. It would reduce gender inequality
and make women to contribute their quota to the development process of the
nation.
Changes in the
perception on the value of daughters and the status of women as well as
increased female enrolment in schools have far reaching consequences for
fertility. It is a known fact that education is negatively associated with
fertility, in part because education raises womens age at marriage, erodes
traditional family size norms and promotes knowledge and use of family
planning. Education is also positively associated with a more egalitarian
relationship between spouses as well as greater inter-spousal communication
regarding family size and contraceptive use. Educated women also participate
more in fertility decision-making. Greater participation of women in fertility
decision-making and inter-spousal communication on family size and
contraceptive use are also associated with lower fertility (Isiugo-Abanihe,
1994b). It is, therefore, expected that the changing perception of parents on
the value of daughters and consequently, their education would cause fertility
to decline in the future.
Moreover, one of
the reasons why fertility is high in third world countries, particularly Africa, is the
preference for male children. Couples without male children tend to continue
childbearing until they have at least one male child. With a changing
attitudinal disposition toward the girl child, it is expected that high
fertility due to sex preference reasons (the preference for the male child)
would gradually begin to wane. Persistently high fertility in the face of
declining mortality has been the major cause of rapid population growth in Nigeria and in most
less developed countries of the world. By implication, the changing perception
on the value of daughters and the changing status of women, resulting from
education, would, among other things, contribute to stemming the rapid growth
of the countrys population through the decline in fertility.
Conclusion
The changing perception on
the value of daughters among parents in Isoko society is altering their
attitudes toward the benefits of girls education. Given the fact that parents
perceive adult daughters as more caring and
more supportive than adult
sons, girls education is perceived as a way of investing for the future.
Educated women are better equipped to provide support to their aged parents.
This changing perception on the value of daughters creates a favourable
disposition towards girls education. This positive disposition has implication
for the enhancement of womens status and fertility reduction.
End Note
-
In
this study, no attempt was made to investigate male and female enrolment rates
in the primary and secondary schools in the study area in order to determine
the degree to which female enrolment in schools has caught up with or surpassed
that of male. It is important that further study should examine this in order
to determine the extent to which the changing perception on girls education
actually translates into increased female enrolment.
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