Millennium Development Goals: Strategies for Gender Equality and Educational Provision in Nigeria

Abstract

The main thrust of this paper is to examine the strategies of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in promoting gender equality and educational provision in Nigeria. The meaning and goals of MDGs were outlined and explained, the conceptual clarifications of gender and education were made. The issue of gender and educational inequality in Nigeria was discussed and strategies of the MDGs to ensure gender equality in educational provision, representation and access were highlighted. Lastly, however, the paper recommends, among others, that since government remains the major source of provision of education in Nigeria, there is need for time to ensure that our policy makers at the federal, state and local levels adopt the principles of gender equity and enact policies that would ensure equal gender educational provision in our educational institutions. Government needs time too to provide adequate budgetary allocations for implementing gender equity programmes at the various levels. These and many other issues like development of manpower that would implement gender programmes, mount gender programmes in the schools, development of materials and value re-orientation in respect of gender issues in various states require time and funds.