Girl-Child Education in Northern Nigeria

In Northern Nigeria, little emphasis is given to the girl-child education as she is seen as meant for domestic work or hawking. Girls are expected to provide an additional source of income for their families by working hard at home and earning extra money through hawking or begging. The World Bank’s chief economist, Jim Bales, argues that there is no investment more effective for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) than investing in girl child education and access to basic education across all sectors of the economy – both urban and rural. For each additional year of schooling provided to young women, fertility appears to decline by 10%, according to studies. Women with a secondary school education are less likely to become pregnant at a young age and are more likely to seek antenatal care, such as antenatal and postnatal care. The proportion of girls to boys in primary school in Nigeria ranges from 1:2 to 1:3, with girls out of school at a much higher rate than boys. The study was conducted in three communities on girl-child education in the Zazzau Emirate of Kaduna State in Nigeria. The population is aged 6-25 years in school and out of school in 2007/2008 by age and sex (n=3847). The three communities had a population of 3847 between the ages of 6-25 years, of whom 47.5% were males and 52.5 % were females. Muslims and Hausas constituted the majority (87%) of the ethnic groups in these communities.GGAC is a non-governmental organization (NGO) established to promote girl-child education. Sustainable development goals (SDGs) 2030 is a 15-year development plan with the theme of transforming our world. It includes some goals set on quality education especially girl-child education and gender equality. There are many women who have set the pace by succeeding in their own fields, such as Prof. Rukayat Rufai Alkali (former Minister of Education) and others. The northern perspective on education should be changed as the North is most affected by this myth.

The April kidnapping of 276 school girls in Borno state by Boko Haram testifies to the magnitude of risk that girls and young women bear when they attend school. In Borno, the female secondary school net attendance rate is only 29% in comparison to a national average of 53%. The importance of girl-child education cannot be overemphasized. Every child should be given the opportunity to be educated irrespective of gender as both sexes can bring equal growth and contribution to society. Girl-child education produces women that easily embrace safe sex thereby reducing the level of sexually transmitted diseases and they also have knowledge of the preventive measures to avoid other diseases. An educated woman can also raise her voice to be heard especially to demand equality and fairness on issues that concern them and their families.