Determining Parents' Mindset on Educating the Girl - Child in Plateau State, Nigeria

Many parents' in Nigeria have developed a negative attitude towards educating girls that it is a waste of resources because they will eventually get married to another family. In northern Nigeria, the girl ? child is not encouraged to go to school and that women are culturally confined to their traditional roles with lots of sanctions on them either by customs, norms or religion. The girls are frequently seen engaging in petty trading such as hawking groundnuts, pure water, garden egg and bread among other products during school period in order to make extra income for the family. This study therefore sought to determine the influence of parental mindset on girl ? child education in Plateau State, Nigeria. The study used correlational survey design. The study population comprised of parents? in 9 Local Government areas of plateau State, 3 LGA from each zone purposively selected by the researcher as follows: Bassa, Jos North, Jos South, Bokkos, Kanam, Mangu, Shendam, Qua?an Pan and Wase. The study made used of registered list of voters from Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) from the LGAs which were 1,460,970. The sample size comprised of 384 respondents. A questionnaire was designed and used for data collection. The study used descriptive in inferential statistics in data analysis. The findings revealed that most parents? have the attitude of given out the girl ? child in marriage long before they became women. It was also revealed that extended family and friends do mock and laugh at parent? that send the girl ? child to school. The findings revealed that most parents? have the attitude of given out the girl ? child in marriage long before they became women. It was also revealed that extended family and friends do mock and laugh at parent? that send the girl ? child to school. The study concluded that most parents do send the girl ? child to marriage even before they become women. Extended family and friends do mock and laugh at parents? that send the girl ? child to school. The study recommends among others that parents? should develop a mindset of likeness by sending the girl ? child to school and desist from given them in marriage long before they become women.