THE ROLE OF WOMEN EDUCATION IN PROMOTING HEALTHY SOCIETY IN DEVELOPING SOCIETY
INTRODUCTION
Education in its broadest perspective is the lifelong learning, both formal and informal, which aims at equipping the individual effectively with acceptable skills, knowledge, attitudes and competences that will enable him/her to cope favorably with the problems of the society. It is one of the main keys to economic development and improvements in human welfare. As global economic competition grows deeper, education becomes an important source of competitive advantage, closely linked to economic growth, and a way for countries to attract jobs and investment. In addition, education appears to be one of the key determinants of lifetime earnings. Countries therefore, frequently see raising educational attainment as a way of tackling poverty and deprivation.
In developing countries, education is also linked to a whole batch of indicators of human development. Unfortunately, the potential contribution of women in education is undervalued and underutilized (Onyishi, 2007). In Nigeria, there had been several developmental initiatives in the sector since 1960; however, the standard has been degrading instead of getting better (Norah & Ihensekhien,
2009). In view of the crucial role of women in molding individuals from birth and throughout human lifecycle, there is no way a country can achieve development without the participation of women in government. It is not just the participation of women in government that is the necessary solution, but having women in decision making positions. In many countries of the world, the contributions of women were not being recognized until when the United Nations (UN) declared the Decade of Women (1976-1985), making it mandatory on governments to focus on issues of women as an integral component of national development (Lawson, 2008).
Women's education can be regarded as a kind of knowledge given to women for enhancing their self-respect and self-dignity. This knowledge can be in form of formal, non-formal and informal education, it can also be in form of adult education, community development, workshops, seminars, conferences and training. Women's education is for making women to become economically independent and self-reliant (Lawson, 2008). Women as mothers, are educators within their families, what they learn, they pass on to their children and their future generations (Lawson, 2008).
Education for women is a development priority due to the dynamic potential of educated women. Therefore, the main objectives for women's education are as follows:
• To enable women to improve their family's health and diet.
• To increase women's productive ability, thus raising their families' standard of living.
• To give women access to appropriate technologies, management of
cooperatives and the use of loan facilities.
• To improve women's social and culture status.
• To enable women to discharge their responsibilities more effectively
• Helping women to fight their own fears and feelings of inadequacy or
inferiority.
• Educating women in all round development. That is mentally, socially, physically, psychologically, religiously and economically.
• To make women participate fully in all the affairs of their nation and to be at centre of sustainable development.
• To make women able to acquire their own basic needs of the society, like food, shelter, fuel, clothes and nurturing.
• To enhance nation building in terms of economic and human development.
Since Nigeria has joined the rest of the world to allow women to participate fully in the society; from going to school to doing formal jobs, she has witnessed a remarkable improvement in educational sector and the workplace (Anugwom,
2009). The Federal Government of Nigeria has also fully embraced some of the resolutions of these conferences and has in the past ten years or so appointed women generally into some decision making positions such as Ministers, Special Advisers, Director Generals, etc. To this effect, this study is set to investigate the role of women of education in the development of Igbo-Eze North local government area of Enugu state.