Gender Influences on Reading and Arithmetic Competences Among Primary School Pupils in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Background and Aim: Researchers have reported that gender stereotypes influence reading and arithmetic competencies globally, limiting learners' achievements in these basic foundational domains. These reports prompted the researchers to conduct this study. Four (4) research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. Materials and Methods: A descriptive quantitative research survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised all the pupils in public and private basic schools in Ebonyi State. The sample of one hundred and thirty-eight (138) pupils was drawn from three L.G.As of the state. The instruments for data collection were the Reading and Arithmetic Assessment Tools, developed and validated by UNICEF. The instrument was adopted as appropriate for the study after thorough scrutiny by the experts. Results: The findings showed that the males’ arithmetic competence level at the 2-digit level is higher than that of the 1-digit level of the females, while the female competence level in reading was higher than that of the males. Conclusion: Based on these findings, the researchers recommended that the Ebonyi State Ministry of Education should train teachers of basic education on gender sensitivity in classroom practices; sensitize parents on gender sensitively in education practices and recommend only materials that promote gender sensitivity for use in schools.