Women Education in Nigeria: Barriers and Distance Learning Strategies as Panacea

Abstract

Education is an instrument for the liberation of mind. In Nigeria, there are millions of women who do not have access to formal tertiary education and this is becoming worrisome to education stakeholders. The study investigates the significance of women access to University Education in Nigeria. Two null hypotheses guided the study.  The study adopted a survey research design. The participants consisted of a sample size of 250 Distance Education Students of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). A 20 items self - designed instrument titled: "Flexibility and Accessibility to Technology Questionnaire"(FATQ) was developed, validated and yielded a reliability coefficient value of 0.78. The data collected was subjected to t-test statistical analysis. The result of hypothesis one showed that the flexibility of distance education will promote women access to education. The result of the finding in hypothesis two revealed that access to technologies will   influence women enrolment in the programme. The study recommends that government should make concerted effort to bridge the gap between educational opportunities for both male and female, which can be achieved by spending more on provision of information technology infrastructures and to support distance education deliverance in Nigeria. Internet facilities should be provided in the rural areas so that women that are working in the rural area can enrol for continuing education programmes. Counselling services should be established for married women who need guidance on how to combine marriage with education.

Keywords: Distance learning; Technologies; Women; Flexibility; Access