CHAPTER TWO
2.0 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter deals with a review of related literature
on the influence of early marriage on the Girls Child academic performance.
The
literature was reviewed and organized under the following sub-headings
- Conceptual flame work of early
marriage
- Causes of early marriage
- Effect of early marriage
- Theory related to early marriage
- Strategies to improve in early
marriage
- Review of related empirical studies
- Summary of related literature.
2.1 Conceptual
flame work of early marriage
While more women are now marrying at
late ages, in many regions, early marriage remains the norms. According to Le
fever, Quiroga and Murphy (2004) noted that 20-50 percent of women in
developing countries are marred by the age of 18, with the highest percentages
in sub-shahaian Africa and south Asia.
Early motherhood has been the
subject of a growing number of studies researches of a growing number of
studies, research prefects and intervention programs in Africa. African women
in federal marry at a much earlier age than their non- African country parts,
leading to early pregnancies surveys carried out in some Sahetran countries
offers alarming examples. In Niger, for example, according to the Health and
Demographic survey (HDS) (1992), 47% of women aged between 20 and 24 were
married before the age of 15 and 87% before the age of 18. A total of 53% had
also had a child before the age 48 (LOCOH 2000)
The following table shows the data
about women ages 20 to 24 married by 18 years old.
Table 1: Women Ages 20 to 24 married by
18 years old
Country
|
Child
marriage prevalence
|
|
1
|
Niger
|
77%
|
2
|
Chad
|
71%
|
3
|
Mali
|
65%
|
4
|
Bangladesh
|
65%
|
5
|
Guinea
|
65%
|
6
|
Nepal
|
56%
|
7
|
Mozambique
|
57%
|
8
|
Uganda
|
54%
|
9
|
Burknafaso
|
52%
|
10
|
India
|
50%
|
11
|
Ethiopia
|
49%
|
12
|
Yemen
|
48%
|
13
|
Eritrea
|
47%
|
14
|
Togo
|
37%
|
15
|
South
Africa
|
8.6
|
Service:
Demographic Health Survey (DHS)
Data form 1995 to 2003. the table
above shows that in Africa there are countries with very high rates of early
marriage, such as Niger (77 percent) Chad (71 percent) and Mozambique (57 percent)
but others such as Toga in west Africa have a more moderate rate of early
marriage (31 percent) while south Africa has a fairly small percentage of young
women marriage early (8 percent) (Malhotra and Malthur 2003)
2.2 Causes
of early marriage. The factors which
are presented below are not a particularity of African countries because they
seem to be almost the same all over the world with very few disparities due to
cultures.
(i) Economic
survival:
Poverty is one of the major factors
under-pinning early marriages. Where poverty is cute, a young girl may be
regarded as an economic burden where one less daughter is one less of feed (UNICEF
2001)
Parents encourage the marriage of
their daughters while they are still children in hope that the marriage will
benefit them both financially and socially while also relieving financial
burdens on the family. In traditional societies in sub-sharan Africa, the
bride’s family may receive cattle form the groom, or the groom’s family, as the
bide-price for their daughter.(UNICEF 2001)
In west Africa as a whole, a recent UNICEF Study shows
that economic hardship is encouraging a rise in early marriage, even among some
population groups that do not normally practice it. men are postponing marriage because of lack of
resources, and parent have become anxious about the danger of their daughter
becoming pregnant outside marriage. Fear of HIV infection, for example has
encouraged men in some African counties to seek young virgin- and therefore
uninfected partners. Wherever the incidence of rape, trafficking, domestic
violence, sexual servitude and child abduction is rising, it seems reasonable
to ask whether early marriage is also making a comeback. Also in traditional
societies where infant mortality was very high and survival depended on a family’s
ability to produce its own food or foods for sale-child marriage helped to
maximize the number of pregnancies and ensure enough surviving children to meet
household labour needs (Mathur 2003) Additionally, poor families tend to marry
off girls at the same time to help reduce the burden of high marriage ceremony
expenses.
(ii) Socio-
Cultural and Religious Values
In the communities where child marriage is prevalent,
there is a strong social pressure on families to conform. Failure to conform
can often result in ridiculer, disapproval or family shame. Invariably, local
perception on the ideal age for marriage, the desire for submissive wives
extended family patterns and other customary requirements, all are enshrined in
Local customs or religious norms in many contexts child marriage is legitimized
by patriarchy, and related family structures, which ensure that marriage
transfers a father’s role over his girl child to her future spouse. The
marriage or betrothal of children in parts of Africa and Assian is valued as a
means of consolidating powerful relationship between families, for sealing
deals over land or other property or even for settling disputes (UNIFPA 2006)
The strong religious messages also enforce the view
that marrying early is best as supported by the following views of one priest
representing Ethiopian’s Orthodox church. He argues that “these days with
western ideas spread every where; girls stay unmarried as late as 30. it is
very scientific and modern, but in our church it is prohibited. Such girls are
neither clean nor blessed” (Batisenge 2008)
(iii) Value
of virginity and protection of young girls.
Early marriage is one way that ensure that a wife is
protected on placed firmly under male control; that she is submissive to her
husband and works hard or her in-law’s household; that the children she bears
are legitimate (UNICEF 2001) on the other hand, for many societies that prize
virginity before marriage, early marriage can manifest itself on a number of
practices designed to “protect” a girls from unsanctioned sexual activity.
Parents may genuinely feel that their daughter will be better off and safer
with a regular male guidance.
In conflict-torn Northern Uganda for
e.g. some families marry their young daughters to Military members in order to
defend family honour or secure protection for themselves and girls the same
thing has happened to girls in Somalia in the course of that country’s
conflicts. (UNICEF 2001)
The young girls orphans or separated
with their parents or relatives the only way to survive and to get protected is
to get married (De Gmedt 1998)
2.3 The
effects of early marriage
(i) Domestic
violence and Abandonment- As young girls are often married to men who are
much older than themselves, the age difference tends to reinforce the powerlessness
of the girl. The young girls are more likely to be beaten or threatened and
more likely to believe that a husband might some time be justified in beating
his wife. women who believed that are more likely to have been married before
the age of 18 than those who believed that there in never justification.
(USAID Gender Assessment 2003-2005).
Early marriage is often linked to wife abandonment, as shown by its association
with divorce and separation. Violence behaviour towards a wife, including
coercive sex, plays a major role in marital breakdown.
In java, it has been found that
girls who marry early are three times more likely to be divorced them those who
married later. Divorce or abandonment often plunges a women into poverty, as
she usually assumes sole responsibility for dependent children. A studies of
young mother in Latin America and the Caribbean found that they are more likely
to be disadvantaged Latin in life. Thus early marriage contributes to the
feminization of poverty and its resulting impact on children. (UNICEF 2001)
(ii) High
material mortality and morbidity: The
world health organization estimates that the rise of death following pregnancy
is twice as great for women between 15 and 19 years than for those between the
ages of 20 and 24. the material mortality rate can be to five times higher for
girls age between 10 and 14 than for women of about twenty years of age.
Pregnant adolescent face far more health problems than older women, particularly
single girls who often receive less prenatal care. Adolescents are far more
susceptible to suffering from anemia than adults, which greatly increase the
risk and complications linked to pregnancy. They are equally more at risk of malnutrition,
high blood pressure linked to pregnancy and eclampsia than women who are over 20 years.(Women
international Network 2000 and IHEU 2006)
(iii) Lack
of power: It is hypothesized that women who are married as children have
less decision making power than women who marriage is delayed until adulthood.
They don’t have ability to make decision on their own health care,
contraception, household budget, daily house purchases, visit to family and
friends e.t.c. they have little power in relation to their husbands and in -Laws.
(UNICEF 1996)
(iv) The
Denial of Education: Early marriage inevitably denial children of school
age their right to the education they need for their personal development,
their preparation for adulthood, and their effective contribution to the future
well being of their family and society. Indeed, marriage girls who would like
to continue schooling may be both practically and legally excluded from doing
so. For a number of poorer families, the potential rewards of educating are two
far off and therefore their education is not recognized as an investment.
Families perceive that a girls education will only benefit her husband’s
household, and not her parents. Additionally, some parent believe that girls do
not need an education for their roles as wives and mother’s that education
undermine cultural practices and it teaches the girls to reject tradition
Although attitudes towards the
education of girls have begun to change even in traditional societies, many
parents still believe that investment in a girls education to be married and
work in another household. The costs of the investment in education reinforce
the impetus towards the girls withdrawal from school.
(v) Psychosocial disadvantage: The loss of adolescence, the forced
sexually relations, and the denial of freedom and personal development
attendant on early marriage have profound psychosocial and emotional
consequences. Most girls who are unhappy in an imposed marriage are very
isolated.
(vi) Future material health and children: Finally, early marriage
extends a women’s potential child bearing capacity, which itself represents a
risk to mother’s. The consequence reach beyond the lives of young married girls
themselves to the next generation. The immaturity and lack of education of a
young mother undermines her capacity for nurture evidence shows that infant
mortality among the children of very young mother is higher sometimes two time
than among those of older peers. (UNICEF 2001)
2.4 Strategies
for Improving Girls Educational At Status
(i) Providing
economic opportunities to young girls:
Poverty is one of the majors factors undermining early marriage. Efforts to
improve the access of and non-married girls to economic resources should focus
on expanding employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. Micro-credit
programs provide women and girls with the basic economic opportunities they
often lack and a social support network that promotes changes in attitudes and
behaviour. It serves as a means of granting them higher status and more control
over the lives-including their options in marriage. (Kabeer 2005 and Umashankar
2006).
(ii) Promoting
education of girls: Educating girls
seems to be the ideal solution since, if sufficiently prolonged; it helps to
delay age of marriage and confers other benefits as well. However, sending
children to school cost money and where money is scarce, it is unlikely to be
spent on girls. Even where education is highly subsidized or even free, poor
parents have to pay for some of the costs of school attendance for their
children, such as various fees, books and school uniforms. In this case,
governments and non governmental organizations should provide support needed
for girls education such as text books, uniforms, scholarship and so on.
(iii) Using
mass media to increase the awareness to the whole community: Media should
play their role as to sensitize the communities that parents should send their
girls to school and support them to stay on. This leads to the empowerment of
girls into skills for self-confidence, assertiveness, speaking out, decision –
making and negotiation. Gaining access to communities deeply voted in the
practice of early marriage is one of the biggest obstacles for programs to
tackles. Media cam-pains using radio and other traditional communication
methods must be used to reach communities, especially those in rural areas. All
these measures will help to ensure the domestic application of the national as
well as international legal instruments already ratified about girls human
right.
Different
stakeholders that should be involved in the fight against early marriage. (Bayi
Senge, 2008)
2.5 REVIEW
OF EMPIRICAL STUDIES.
Kasomo (2009) factors military against
the education of girls in lower eastern province, Kenya. The population was
three thousand. A survey design was used in the research. The major findings
are
- Those girls have low educational and
occupational aspirations.
- The greatest hindrance to their
educational advancement is alleged to be pregnancy, followed by peer pressure,
lack of school fees and drug addition etc.
Guavas and made (2010). Rural girls
educational challenges in Tanzania particularly the matrilineal society
(Luguru) where women hold very influential positions in terms of property
rights influencing her daily life.
Data was collected using checklist
and questionnaire supported by observation and formal discussion with key
informants.
The major findings are. Although the
number of rural girls who are enrolled
in secondary schools is increasing in the study area, the risk of them to drop
out asserted to higher than boys.
- Pregnancy,
early marriage and truancy note to be the contributing factors.
- Again,
girls were mostly engaged in domestic chores thus eroding their study time.
- In
addition, hotels, distance and transport status were other prominent
educational challenges facing both rural
girls and boys as well.
In
relation to this empirical study to the research work, it is as noticed that in
African and others non African countries early marriage was observed to be the
major hindrance to girls education performance.
2.6 Theory
in relation to early marriage
It is the theory that societies progress form a
pre-modern regime of high fertility and high mortality to a post modern regime
of low fertility and low mortality. The cause of the transition has been sought
in the reduction of the death rate by controlling epidemic and contagions
diseases.
The
demographic transition involves three stages.
Stage
1: In the first stage, birth rate
are high and death rates are
high. The population flows slowly
Stage
11: In the second stage,
modernization begins- especially
industrialization and urbanization, medicine improves,
as do personal hygiene and public health. This leads to a sharp fall in the
death rate. Every one lives longer, and infants are much more likely to
services. In the second stage birth rate remain high so (with fever deaths) the
population increase rapidly
Stage
111: In the third stage, the death rate continues to fall and now the birth
rate falls as well. Families become smaller. Instead of the rapid growth of
stage two, population growth slows down; indeed, the population may start to
shrink
2.6 Summary of related literature:
Literature related to the study was reviewed in this
chapter. The review covers the cause of early marriage, effect of early
marriage, and strategies to improve then the issue of early marriage. Theory of
marriage was stated and reviewer of empirical studies was carried out
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the procedure used in carrying out
the study are described under the following sub-heading research design, Area
of study population of the study, sample & simply technique, instilment for
data collection, validation of instrument, method of data collection and method
of data analysis.
3.1 Research
Design
The research design used is the descriptive survey. Arua
(2005) described the descriptive survey as the presentation of collected data
as they are without drawing inference from further analysis the design will be
used to collect data from the respondents in order to explore their view.
3.2 Area
of the Study
The study was carried out in Ikwo Local Government
Area of Ebonyi State. It is situated on the eastern part of Ebonyi state. It
has a land mass of approximately 500 kilometers and shore a border with
Abakaliki and Ezza Local Government Area and Cross River . Ikwo has a
semi-tropical climate with plenty of vain-fall.
Ikwo people are mostly farmers. Rice, yams and cassava
are the most popular crops.
(Sources: Ebonyi online come population of the study.)
3.3 Population
of the Study
The population of the study comprises all the three
hundred and fifty nine thousand (N359,000) people living in Ikwo.
(Sources;
Ebonyi online.Com.)
3.4 Sample
and sampling Technique
Yaro
Yamane formula was used lo selects the sample
e.g n = N
1 + N(e)2
Where
n = The
sample size
N = The
finite population
e = Level
of significance
1 = Unity
(a constant)
Since the total population is 359,000, a total of 400
was selected to represent the entire population.
3.5 Instrument
for Data Collection
The instrument for data was a structured questionnaire
developed by the researcher. The questionnaire was made up of section A &
B. section A of the questionnaire comprises of the respondents personal data.
While section be comprise of 15 items formulated to answer the research
questions. Four point scale was used. Thus strongly agreed, disagree and
strongly disagree.
3.6
Validation of instrument
The instrument was validated by two experts in
educational foundation and in measurement and evaluation department in Ebonyi
state university. Their suggestion corrections and modifications was highly appreciated
and used for the final draft of the questionnaire.
3.7 Reliability
of the Instrument
A pre- test method was used to ascertain the
reliability of the instrument. The questionnaire was administered to ten women
randomly selected from Ikwo Local Government Area at an interval of seven days.
The selection of ten women from Ikwo Local Government Area was to ensure the
reliability of the study in Ikwo Local Government Area. After filling the
questionnaire by the women in two different occasions, the results obtained did
not vary. Thus, therefore, the questionnaire made for the study was
administered in Ikwo Local Government Area. It was reliable for the required
information.
3.8 Method
of Data Collection
The instrument was administrated to the respondents with
the aid research assistant. The questionnaire was distributed and was collected
back on the sport. Based on this. All the 400 copies of questionnaire
distributed return 100%.
3.9 Method
of Data Analysis
All the copies of the questionnaire were used for the
analysis. The statistical tools used for analysis were frequency and mean. The
number of responses made to each item by the respondent on the questionnaire
were summed up. The number of responses in each column was multiplied by the
corresponding value. The product were summed up and divided by the number of
the respondents. This gave the mean scores for the items as follows:
X = Fx
N
Where X
= Mean
X = Nominal
value
N = Number
of correspondent to each item.
F = Frequency
In order to determine the extent of the agreement /disagreement
in each of the seeking statement in the questionnaire nominal value were
assigned to the scaling items as follows:
Strongly agree (SA) 4
points
Agree (A) 3 point
Disagree (DA) 2
point
Strongly disagree (SD) 1point
The nominal value of the four
scaling item were summed up to be 10 ( 4 + 3 +2 +1 = 10)
The
mean for that was 10 = 2.5
4
Using the interval of scale of 0.05 then the upper
limit was 2.45
Decision
rules becomes any response with a mean of 2.55 and above was accepted as agree
and any other with 2.25 and below was regarded as disagreed.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION OF RESULT AND FINDINGS.
This chapter deals exclusively with the presentations
& analysis of data collected through questionnaire.
4.1 Research question 1
What are the causes of early marriage in Ikwo Local
Government
Area
Data needed to answer this research question are
presented in table
one
SA
|
A
|
D
|
SD
|
N
|
 X |
REMARK
|
||
1
|
To raise the economic and
social status
|
130
|
169
|
51
|
50
|
400
|
2.95
|
Agree
|
2
|
Gender bias promotes early
marriage of girls
|
159
|
144
|
40
|
60
|
400
|
2.99
|
Agree
|
3
|
Lack of Education
|
170
|
190
|
20
|
20
|
400
|
3.28
|
Agree
|
4
|
Preasure from older members of the family & community
|
139
|
160
|
41
|
60
|
400
|
2.95
|
Agree
|
5
|
Empowerment in family issue
|
10
|
80
|
180
|
130
|
400
|
1.93
|
Disagree
|
Table one indicates that item 1,2,3, & 4 whose
mean percentage use 2.95, 2.99, 3.2 & 2.95 respectively agree to be some of
the major causes of early marriage while item 5 which is empowerment disagree.
4.2 Research
question two:
What
are the effect of early marriage in Ikwo Local Government Area?
Date needed to answer this
research questionnaire presented in table 2
SA
|
A
|
D
|
SD
|
N
|
X |
REMARK
|
||
6
|
Psychological &
emotional stress like forced sexual relation, denial of freedoms personal
development
|
139
|
160
|
41
|
60
|
400
|
2.95
|
Agree
|
7
|
Denial of personal
development and education
|
179
|
190
|
11
|
20
|
400
|
3.25
|
Agree
|
8
|
As girl children are still vulnerable
& submissive, they can be subject to the atrocities of domestic violence
& abandonment
|
160
|
130
|
30
|
80
|
400
|
2.93
|
Agree
|
9
|
Mental and emotional stress
in girl brides is high because they are not old enough to cope with maternal,
marital or in-law issues
|
139
|
160
|
41
|
60
|
400
|
2.95
|
Agree
|
10
|
Barriness may occur
|
40
|
50
|
170
|
140
|
400
|
2.05
|
Disagree
|
From the table above we can observe that the
majority of the respondent agreed with that item 6 to 9 whose mean is 2.95,
3.25, 2.93 & 2.98 respectively were some of the effect of early marriage
while item 10 whose mean is 2.00 disagree.
4.3 Research
question 3
What are the strategies to
improve girls education in Ikwo L.G.A.
Date needed to answer this
research question are presented in table 3
Table 3: Strategies to
improve early marriage.
SA
|
A
|
D
|
SD
|
N
|
X |
REMARK
|
||
11
|
Poverty alleviation
programme
|
200
|
90
|
70
|
40
|
400
|
3.13
|
Agree
|
12
|
Increase assess to
education
|
170
|
150
|
50
|
30
|
400
|
3.2
|
Agree
|
13
|
Eliminating gender
inequality
|
239
|
130
|
16
|
15
|
400
|
3.49
|
Agree
|
14
|
Government & NGOs to
sensitize the society the appropriate media.
|
180
|
110
|
30
|
80
|
400
|
2.98
|
Agree
|
15
|
Curriculum developers to
incorporate a special programme on girls education.
|
15
|
185
|
80
|
20
|
400
|
2.99
|
Disagree
|
The analysis presented in
this table indicate that all the item listed in the table above are some of the
strategies to improve the girls education they mean 3.13, 3.2, 3.49, 2.98 and
2.99 respectively.
4.4 Findings
The following are the findings arising from the analysis
of data.
1. Illiteracy among parent causes early marriage.
2. Gender bias promotes early marriage
3. It
Endangers the health of the girl physically, physiologically and emotionally.
4. Public
enlightment campaign to be adopted government & non-governmental
organization as a measure to can be early marriage.
5. Poverty,
religion and culture causes early marriage.