Equality of Opportunity in Education and Training - Education and Training Institutions - Nigeria

Federal Ministry of Education

In 1989, the Women’s Education Branch of the Ministry was created. Its aim is to promote the education of women and the girl-child. In order to develop the life-long education and training of women, the Ministry has established throughout the country multi-purpose Women Development Centres, where adult and non-formal literacy classes for market women and female functional health and literacy programmes are organized at the grassroots. As at 1994, there were about 270 of these Women Centres throughout Nigeria (see Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Second and Third Periodic Reports of States Parties (Nigeria), of 26 February 1997, Doc. CEDAW/C/NGA/2-3, § 43).

In 1986, the Ministry formulated the National Women Education Policy which states:

"With regard to women’s education, special efforts will be made by Ministries of Education and Local Government Authorities, in conjunction with Ministries of Community Development and Social Welfare and of Information, to encourage parents to send their daughters to school".

Encouraged by the federal government, State governments have enacted laws against early withdrawal of the girl-child from school caused by early marriage.

In 1995, this Commission conducted training for women education officers on the design and implementation of functional literacy materials.

This Board was established by the National Board for Technical Education Act 1977 and is composed of representatives of employers, workers, polytechnics, colleges of technology, vocational training and technical teacher institutions, federal ministries, States, the Industrial Training Fund and the National Science and Technology Development Agency (section 2 (1).). The Board exercises a wide range of functions, notably:

1. to advise the federal government on, and to coordinate all aspects of, technical and vocational education falling outside the universities and to make recommendations on the necessary national policy; and,
2. to determine the skilled and middle-level manpower needs of the country in the industrial, commercial and other relevant fields for the purpose of planning training facilities (section 5).

Furthermore, in its role of advising on all aspects of technical education, the Board must make recommendations, inter alia, as how to best provide encouragement for women to enter a wider range of fields of technical education (section 6 (f).).