UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says girls in Nigeria bear a sizeable burden of the challenges that confront the country’s education sector.
Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Field Office Kano, Mr Rahama Farah, made this known on Wednesday at a three-day Media Dialogue on Girls’ Education in Kano.
According to him, currently in Nigeria, there are 18.5 million out-of-school children, 60 per cent of which are girls, meaning that over 10 million girls are out-of-school.
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“Most importantly, you will need to know that the majority of these out-of-school children are actually from northern Nigeria,” he said.
Farah explained that the situation heightened the gender inequity, where only one out of four girls from poor, rural families, complete Junior Secondary School education.
He further explained that while education crisis in Nigeria affect children across the country, some children were more likely to be affected than others, especially girls.
The situation with girls’ education in Nigeria, he stressed, had been further affected by attacks on schools.
“These attacks have created an insecure learning environment, discouraged parents and caregivers from sending their children to schools.”
“At the same time, the students themselves become fearful of going to school. These attacks have particularly and specifically targeted Girls,” he said.
He, however, urged the media to advocate increased funding and allocation of adequate public resources to the education sector.
Also, the Field head highlighted the importance of collective support from every ally and stakeholder, especially the media.
He, therefore, said that the intervention if its Girls’ Education Project 3(GEP 3) had led to the enrollment of 1.3 million girls in the six target state of Kano, Katsina, Bauchi, Sokoto, Zamfara and Niger States.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that UNICEF Nigeria in collaboration with the Kano State Qur’anic and Islamiyya Schools Management Board (KSQISMB) is implementing a Media Dialogue on Girls’ Education under the Girls’ Education Project 3 (GEP 3) .
The three-days dialogue is funded by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the UK, holding between May 11 and May 13. (NAN)
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