Impact of Western Education on the Female/girl Child Education in Colonial Benin

Student: ELIAS EKHEBAFE ZAKARI (Project, 2025)
Department of History and International Studies
Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State


Abstract

Girl's educational opportunities tend to be circumscribed by patriarchal attitude.Lack of education has been strong visible barrier to female participation in the formal sector. The social pressures on females such as early marriage and other extraneous factors as well as consideration of female education as secondary to that of boys and certain inhibitive religious practices are the major causes of the high illiteracy rate amongst women. As the impact of teenage pregnancy and early marriage make abundantly clear, girls are at a double disadvantage in educational access especially in the Northern part of the country where these practice are mostly widespread. Parents attach greater importance to the education of boys than girls do.

Keywords
girls educational opportunities circumscribed patriarchal attitudelack education strong visible barrier