Gender analysis of educational inequality among rural children of school-age in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract. Educational inequality has been accepted widely as an indicator of wellbeing. However, in most developing countries, very little attention has been paid to it. This article examined the gender differences in educational inequality among rural children of school-age in Kwara state, Nigeria. Using a three-stage random sampling technique, 200 rural households were sampled for data collection. Analytical tools used are descriptive statistics, the Gini-coefficient and the Ordinary Least Square regression analysis. The result of the analysis showed educational inequality for boys and girls was 0.4 and 0.5, respectively. Educational inequality among children of school-age was significantly determined by the age of household heads, education status of the household heads, marital status, main occupation of the household head, household size, dependency ratio, farm size, cost of schooling, average time spent by children in farm work and asset-base of the households. It was therefore recommended that strategies that will promote mothers’ education be put in place as well as the provision of accessible credit schemes. This can help in the hiring of labour for farm and non-farm businesses thereby increasing production, while providing the household with more funds to enroll their children in schools.