Enrolment, Attrition and Graduation of the Girl Child in Public Junior Secondary Schools in South West Nigeria, 1996-2006

The study examined the enrolment, attrition and graduation of the girl child in Junior Secondary Schools in South West Nigeria from 1999 to 2006 during which five cohorts were produced. This is against the backdrop of the launching of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme of the Federal Government of Nigeria in 1999, a programme that is designed not only to ensure that the child acquires basic skills in life but also to redress the gender imbalance in the Nigerian educational landscape and therefore ensure greater female participation in national development. Relevant data were collected through a Records Observation Format from 72 Junior Secondary Schools purposively selected from the urban and rural areas of the six States that constitute South West Nigeria namely Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Oshun and Oyo States. Data collected were subjected to the t-test statistical analysis in consonance with the hypotheses formulated to guide the study. Results indicate no significant difference between enrolment and graduation in both urban and rural areas at 0.05 significant level indicating that the UBE programme is probably on course with respect to participation of the girl child. Among the recommendations are that brilliant but indigent female students be offered bursary and scholarship awards and that gender specific laws be enacted to protect female children from abuse and exploitation in order to ensure and assure their education.