Lets do it for the Girls

Children determined to co-exist without discrimination

The recently observed International Day of the African Child once more brought to the fore critical issues related to girl-child such as gender inequalities that remain between girls and boys as well as various forms of discrimination and abuse suffered by some girls in select parts of Nigeria. Funke Olaode and Akinwunmi Ibrahim report

On a recent Monday, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos played host to some school-age girls. It was really the institute’s premises regarded as place to host important events to draw the attention of who-is-who in the country that did the magic. It was the 16th of June, a day set aside to mark the International Day of the African Child.

So the Basic Education Africa (BE Africa) in partnership with other educational and young people-focused organisations held a seminar to discuss critical issues about the girl-child. Everything focused on ‘Basic Education for All – A Focus on Girl-child Education’ as the theme for the programme.

Of course, the International Day of the African Child was established by the African Union in 1991 to raise awareness about the plight of children in Africa, and on the need for continuing improvement in education. It encourages paying attention to the needs of children in Africa.

According to Basic Education Africa, the was aimed  to work towards advocating for and ensuring that every child across sub-Saharan Africa is given access to quality basic education as set out in the UN Millennium Development Goals and stipulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child.
Hence, the seminar was used as a platform to initiate discourse on girl-child education and to advocate rights of a girl-child to education in Nigeria.
And with a range of seasoned speakers that included the Director, Oando Foundation, Ms. Tokunbo Durosaro, Founder, Slum2School Project, Mr. Otto Orondaam and Ms. Daphne Akatugba of the Future Project Nigeria, it was a moment to cherish for everyone who participated.
The theme of the seminar was critical especially at this time when attendance at school by girls in Nigeria is threatened in the north-east  by the incessant attacks on schools by the Boko Haram sect  and in particular the kidnapping of over 200 girls in Chibok, Borno State.

This is in addition to the barriers that already exist such as religious and cultural beliefs and poverty amongst others.
Already, there is a need for intervention to increase the number of girls in education in Nigeria – from basic to tertiary level as Nigeria is currently the country with the largest number of out-of-school children in the world, with 60 per cent of them being female.

Undeniably, the seminar created a platform for key education stakeholders, including representatives from the State University Basic Education Board (SUBEB), local government education secretaries, development champions and students to discuss challenge, the interventions that are currently in place and the way forward for ensuring the inclusion of more girls in school - looking at the roles of the Government, Schools, Community, Parents, Corporate organisations, as well as local and international non-governmental organisations.

Clearly, the role and importance of education cannot be downplayed in this modern world.
According to Durosaro about 10.5 million children are out of school in Nigeria and the Northern where about two-thirds of primary age children are out of school accounts for so much.

Durosaro agreed with UNESCO’s statistics saying 6 million of the 36 million out-of-school girls in the world are Nigerians. Average Pupil/ trained teachers ratio is 1: 40 according to her.  She said that in some schools in Northern Nigeria, there are more than 200 students per trained teacher.

“17.2 per cent that are out-of-school children in the world are Nigerians. One in every six out-of-school children is a Nigerian. It is a pity that a lot of people underestimate what a community can do to change the situation. They keep forgetting that the community can help drive enrollment into schools in the country,” she explained.

She agreed with the notion that one of the barriers to quality education in Nigeria remains inadequate government budgetary allocation.

Durosaro also attributed low quality of education in the country to poverty saying that “when the standard of living of people is poor, they would never have time to think of school not to talk of going.  All they would rather think of is to scout for a daily survival.”

Durosaro added that the way forward towards improving access and provision of quality of basic education in Nigeria is to increase the private sector participation in the education sector.

Also speaking at the seminar, Founder, Slum2School Project, Nigeria, Otto Orondaam, who gave up his banking job just after a year into his career in order to pursue his passion in putting smiles on the faces of children and to get them back to school through his foundation said that there is need for the government to do more about girl-child education in the country.

According to him, in a cosmopolitan city like Lagos, there are still many children that are not going to school.
Also contributing, Ms. Daphne Akatugba of the Future Project said that though some measure of  progress have been recorded throughout Africa in terms of enrollment of girls in school, there is need to do much more.
Akatugba said that in some states in Nigeria for instance, poor parental view on formal education with suspicion that is irrelevant for girls is still high.
“Access to formal schooling still poses a problem and drop-out is more pronounced issue which has multifarious dimensions. And the most significant of which are early marriage for girls in some areas and their boys and girls engagement in income generating activities to supplement household income in the South-eastern and North- eastern parts of the country respectively.

The solution according to her is to expand partnerships and working with civil society and more ministries in order to stop this gender disparity. And for that reason, her organisation is focusing on showcasing role models which are majorly women who had excelled in every area of endeavors through the ‘ Future Project Awards Africa’ in order to inspire people about the benefit of being educated.

In order to make the discourse a balance one, the Baale of Omole Land, Mr. Taiwo Bakare asked communities to become responsible in ensuring that children within the communities are provided access to basic education.

He further tasked traditional rulers to show good examples by sending their own daughter to primary school up to tertiary institution