BRIDGING THE GENDER GAP THROUGH CAPACITY BUILDING AMONG MALE AND FEMALE TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS FOR QUALITY EDUCATION DELIVERY

This study looked at ways of bridging the gender gap through capacity building among male and female teachers in secondary schools for quality education delivery in South-East, Nigeria. Three research questions and hypotheses were posed to guide the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey design with a population of 21,320 male and female teachers in 1,045 schools in South-East, Nigeria. A sample size of 2100 male and female teachers was randomly drawn using a stratified random sampling technique, representing 10% of the population. Questionnaire tagged (BGGCBQEDQ) was established based on the variables of the study. The instrument was validated and the reliability using Pearson’s product moment yielded a reliability index of 0.91. Mean and standard deviation were used as the statistical tools to answer the research questions, while z-test was used in testing the hypotheses of no significant difference. The findings revealed among others that there is need to bridge the gap between male and female teachers to build appropriate communication skills, capacity to face curriculum and technological demands and skill to encourage learning through problem solving in teaching as well as to improve their participation in facilitating quality education delivery. This will help them acknowledge the link between quality teaching and improve student learning outcomes, reflect authentic and extensive knowledge about teaching and learning, encouraging both male and female teachers aspire to a higher level of performance, reflect the theoretical knowledge of specific content/pedagogy as well as rewarding quality teaching in the full range of social and cultural contexts in which teaching occurs. Based on the findings, recommendations were made.