Abstract
The
purpose of this research work was to assess the impacts
of girl child labor on education of female students in junior secondary schools
in Abakaliki Education Zone of Ebonyi State. The design of this study is survey research. The population of the
study consisted of 1481 teachers and a sample of 300 teachers randomly selected
from three secondary schools in each of the four Local Government Areas in
Abakaliki Education Zone of Ebonyi State were used for the study. The
instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled “Girl
Child Labor Questionnaire” (GCLQ) which was developed by the researcher. Four research questions guided the study.
The result indicates that girl child labor has an impact on the education of
girl children who are involved in child labor. The implication is that girl
child labor has an impact on the female students’ school attendance,
participation in classroom activities, achievement in examination and social
relationship with students in the school in secondary schools in Ebonyi North
Education Zone. The study maintained
that the calamity of girl child labor is not just the havoc it wrecks in our
educational system but the gradual discouragement of female students from
studying. It was recommended among other things that all Ebonyi State citizens and stakeholders should work collaboratively
to minimize the root causes of girl child labor which among others include
poverty, socio-economic instability and political unrest and that the
Government of Ebonyi State needs to place more emphasis on the girl child’s
physical, psychological, and social health care.