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Effect Of Early Marriage On Female Academic Performance In Nigeria
[A CASE STUDY OF THREE SOUTH-WESTERN UNIVERSITIES]
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Birth,
marriage and death are the standard trio of key events in most people’s
live. But out of these three events; ‘marriage’ is a matter of choice.
The right to exercise that choice was identified as a principle of law
starting from the Roman era and has been established in the
international human right instruments. Yet, many girls enter into
marriage without any choice of exercising their right to choose. Most of
them are forced into marriage at their early or tender age. Others are
simply too young to make a matured decision about their marriage partner
or about the consequences of marriages itself. They may have given what
passes for ‘counsel’ in the eyes of the law, but in reality, consent to
their binding union has been made by other on their behalf (Bunting,
2012).
The axiom is that once a girl is married she has automatically
become a woman regardless her age. Early marriage, which is marriage of
children and adolescents below the age of 18 is still widely practiced
most especially in the Northern part of the country. There are various
forms and causes of early marriage, but one issue is prominent, which is
early marriage is a violation of human right. The right to free and
full consent to marriage is recognized in the 1948 Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UDHR) and in other human right instruments (Shehu,
2010; Bunting, 2012). Early marriage has profound physical,
intellectual, psychological and emotional impacts, which has the
capacity to dash away the educational opportunities and chances for
personal growth. it almost leads to pregnancy and childbearing, and is
likely to result into a lifetime domestic and sexual subservience.
For
many young girls in developing countries, marriage is perceived as a
means of securing and protecting their future. Girls are forced into
marriage by their families while they are still children in the hope
that marriage will yield them returns financially and socially (Shobba,
2009). On the contrary, early marriage violates the rights of children
with negative implications. It compromises their overall development,
leaving them socially isolated with little or no education, skills and
opportunities for employment and self-realization. These conditions
ultimately make married girls susceptible to poverty. These girls are
required to do a disproportionate amount of chores, which includes new
roles and responsibilities as wives and mothers. The young bride’s
status in the family is frequently dependent on her, demonstrating their
fertility often within the first year of her marriage. At this time,
she is not psychologically, emotionally and physiologically prepared for
these roles. Additionally, girls are made responsible for the care and
welfare of future generations while still children themselves. Young
mothers with no decision-making powers, restricted mobility and no
economic resources are likely to transmit this vulnerability to their
kids. Therefore, early marriage directly compounds to feminization of
poverty and intergenerational poverty.
Early marriage leads to early
pregnancy and motherhood, which adversely affects the education of girls
in schools. Inspite of the recognition of women education, there are
many barriers in the way of women to get higher education and contribute
their maximum impact to the betterment of the society. The mindset of
the society does not allow girls for higher education in that, it
promotes gender inequality and ensures prioritization of economic
resources for boy-child (ren). They get fewer opportunities not only in
education, but also in all facets of life (Daraz, 2012). Studies
conducted by Goldien (2007) revealed that many young married women face
many problems and leave their education uncompleted due to different
social and cultural factors. Even if they are fortunate to complete
their education, their performance is abysmally poor. This termination
of education and abysmal poor performance in their studies is the
outcome of the challenges encountered when combining education with
their responsibilities as home-keepers in their families.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]The study examined the effects of early marriage on the academic achievements of married female students in Nigerian UniversitiesMore specifically, the study sought to assess the educational and non-educational effects of early marriage on the academic achievements of married female studentsThe purposive sampling technique was used to select 225 female married students in UI, UNILAG and FUTA183 respondents duly participated in the survey. A well- developed questionnaire was designed to elicit in ... Continue reading---
