Gender Disparity in School Enrolment in Sokoto State: Causes and Remedies

This study investigates the causes of gender disparity in school enrolment in Sokoto State, North West Nigeria, with a focus on identifying practical remedies within the current policy environment. Despite significant national and international commitments to gender parity in education, Sokoto State continues to record some of the highest gender gaps in school enrolment in Nigeria, particularly at the secondary level. The study adopts a descriptive survey design and employs stratified random sampling to select 400 respondents including parents, teachers, community leaders, and local government education authority officials from four local government areas. Data are gathered through structured questionnaires and focus group discussions, and analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Findings reveal that cultural norms, early marriage, household poverty, and the perceived irrelevance of formal education for girls are the principal drivers of enrolment disparities. The study also finds that targeted interventions such as conditional cash transfers, female teacher recruitment, and the establishment of girl-friendly school environments have yielded modest improvements in enrolment where applied. Recommendations include the scaling up of community sensitisation programmes and the integration of gender-responsive planning into local education authority operations. Keywords: gender disparity, school enrolment, girl-child education, North West Nigeria, Sokoto State.