Parental Influence on the Education of the Girl Child

Education remains one of the most powerful tools for personal and societal development, yet its accessibility and utilization are often influenced by social and cultural factors. In many African societies, the education of the girl child continues to face unique challenges, particularly in rural and semi-urban settings. This study investigates the influence of parents on the education of the girl child. The focus is on understanding the extent to which parents’ educational level, income level, location are influencing the achievement of the Girl child education. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study, the population for the study was 4690 female students of secondary school across the Afikpo Education Zone. Stratified sampling was used to get the study sample. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire on the influence of parents on their daughter’s education, as discussed. The data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation. These were the scores realized from the various variables used in the study. ANOVA was used to test the null hypothesis at 0.05 alpha level of significance. Findings reveal that parental influence is a decisive factor in determining the level of access, retention, and performance of the girl child in education. The study concludes with the following recommendations; Parents should be oriented on the importance of seeing that both male and female children, benefit from education. The Government should provide schools in developing areas. This is to completely enable the girl child to attend school in environment they feel safe and close to their homes. If the girl child is educated, she will also educate her children, which will increase the educational level of the society.