Improving the Level of Education and Economic Empowerment of Women in Purdah through Open and Distance Learning at the National Open University of Nigeria
Keywords:
Open and Distance Learning, Muslim women, purdah, economic empowerment, educationally disadvantaged groupAbstract
The first conference on Muslim education, which was held in Jeddah in 1977, recognised the existence of both Western and Islamic educational systems. Despite the dichotomy in the curriculum and learning methodologies of the two systems of education, Western education has cut a niche for itself in the Muslim world. A new paradigm in economic growth, development and technology has encouraged the Muslim world to embrace Western education with the inclusion of the education of the girl child even in purdah. However, access to Western education by Muslim women in purdah is limited due to some religious restrictions on the 'free mixing' of males and females. Also, Muslim women are today constantly beleaguered for wearing Islamic head veils and are forced to make choices between keeping their head veils or purdah and going to schools. Using secondary data, the paper employed a theoretical analysis approach to explore access to education by females in Nigeria in comparison with males. The paper therefore proffered a panacea to the limited accessibility to education by Muslim women in purdah through a flexible learning mode offered by Open and Distance Learning education using the latest technology. The paper contended that Open and Distance Learning will afford Muslim women in purdah the right to practise the tenets of their faith as well as the right to education without much ado.
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