Socio-Cultural Practices and Beliefs in TIV, Nigeria as Correlates of Girl-Child Education

The purpose of the study was to investigate socio-cultural practices and beliefs in Tiv that hinder girl-child education. To achieve the purpose of the study, six research questions and two research hypotheses guided the study A correlation research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised girl-students and parents from Kwande and Ushongo LGAs. A sample comprising 520 girls was selected through proportionate probability sampling with replacement technique.  The two instruments of the study, one for girls and another for parents were developed by the researchers and validated. The correlation coefficients of 0.91 for girls and 0.88 for parents’ instruments were obtained using Cronbach Alpha reliability analysis scale. Means and standard deviations were adopted for answering research questions, while Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was adopted for testing research hypotheses. The main findings show that: early marriage is still practised in Tiv, mostly girls are engaged in domestic chores, parents demonstrate high son-preference, and all these affect girl-child education in Tiv. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that, parents should be discouraged from giving their daughters into early marriage, or withdrawing them from schools for marriage.