THE TAKE OF THE MINISTER OF WOMEN AFFAIRS ON GIRLS EDUCATION
The Honourable Minister of Women Affairs Dame Pauline Tallen, contributions to girl education cannot be overemphasized. Girl child education in nation-building is the top priority in her mandate as the Minister of Women affairs.
Educating a girl child has multiple effects and the role of women in supporting 6the girl child education is vital. In Nigeria today education is a fundamental right for every child is it, boy or girl, hence it is estimated that girls constitute the highest number out of the 13 .5 million out of school children including those that have received no form of training.
Women as custodians of the home front, women must join the crusade to break all barriers that hinder the education of the girl child at all levels. In this regard, the average woman within her family, community set up as a mother and a community leader or religious leader must take up the challenges in ensuring who holds a position as well must take up the challenge of ensuring every girl child must go to school in all regions of the country and must interrogate the underline factor that is affecting the girl child.
Encourage the women in communities to take advantage of the government mass literacy project to educate themselves to be better prepared to take up this challenge. She acknowledges the work done by state government across the nation toward girl child education but more work is needed to be done in the North. Religious bodies and others have been fantastic in their efforts in reaching areas to promote girl child education.
The federal ministry of women affairs is the national machinery for the promotion of gender equality, women and girl’s empowerment in Nigeria, which ranges from advocacy, gender equality, a girl child in school to at least complete secondary school, fight early marriage among others.
Several pulls and push factors/reasons have been articulated to this which includes an increase in reported cases of child molestation of the girl child in schools or by caregivers, sex for marks, rape of young girls on their way to school, poor water sanitation, hygiene and sanitation conditions; keeps girls out of school during their menstrual cycle, early marriages, drug abuse, cultism, ignorance on the part of parents, cost of education, poor infrastructure, kidnapping for ransom, targeting girls as weapons of war, general insecurity, poor quality of teachers amongst others. The ministry will continue to mobilize all members of the society to support girl child education and work closely with the ministry of education to achieve a better result and change the narrative.
