PERCEIVED ROLE OF WOMEN EDUCATION IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF MUBI NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, NIGERIA

In Nigeria and in Mubi North Local Government Area in particular, the girl-child access to basic education was observed to be at its lowest ebb. The reasons for this may revolve around religious and cultural beliefs. This study examined the role of women education in national development; particularly in the aspect of children’s health and educational attainment. The sample for the study consisted of 200 women randomly selected from five villages in Mubi North Local Government Area of Adamawa State in Nigeria. A checklist was used to collect data from the respondents. The internal consistency of the instrument was determined using Guttmann’s Split-Half statistic. This yielded a reliability value of 0.80. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentages and Kolmogorov-Smirnov z two samples test. Results of data analysis showed that women education could play a significant role towards improving the health and education of children. The study also identified male-child preference, early marriage, cultural and religious misinterpretation as the major factors militating against female education, particularly in Mubi North Local Government Area of Adamawa. Based on these findings, it was recommended that Government should make women education compulsory and free at the basic education level