IMPACT OF WOMEN’S EDUCATION ON NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
All over the world, education is recognized as the cornerstone for sustainable national development (Oyitso & Olomukoro, 2012). In the last two decades, debates on the status of women and the need to integrate them into development process of any nation have ranged on a national and international workshops, seminars, and for among others (Olayele,2008). Education helps men and women claim their rights and realize their potential economic, political and social arenas. It is also the single most powerful way to lift people out of poverty. Yet, many people especially women are still excluded from education in Nigeria and Africa a whole. The demand for education in most countries of the world has spread to people of different sex and age group. The motivation of this demand and spread was dictated by the philosophy of popular education and the principle of equal opportunities for all in the educational industry endorsed by many countries as the instrument for national development, social justice and egalitarianism.
Before this landmark, development which came in the wake of the dynamism of society, women’s education has lagged behind because of what Obbo (1980) called the philosophy of training women towards the traditional roles as wives and mothers. Besides, the emphasis laid on the effective performance of