2015 election: education for development

On January GCC Programme Officer Hajiya Umma Iliyasu Mohammed and my humble self representing the GCC Board of Trustees, visited Queen Amina College, Kaduna, to present 143 chairs and 73 dining tables to the school. The furniture was a donation from Honourable Mulikat Akande, the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives. As an old […]

On January GCC Programme Officer Hajiya Umma Iliyasu Mohammed and my humble self representing the GCC Board of Trustees, visited Queen Amina College, Kaduna, to present 143 chairs and 73 dining tables to the school. The furniture was a donation from Honourable Mulikat Akande, the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives. As an old student of the school, she made the donation under GCC’s ‘Give Back Project” where old students give something that will promote the development of their alma mater. Last year, Hon. Akande attended a retreat for girls who are beneficiaries of GCC’s and was unhappy when she saw the girls eating their meal outside because the furniture in the dining room were damaged. She donated the sum of two million naira for the rehabilitation of the dining room. In her appreciation, the Principal of the School, Hajiya Bilkisu Ubangari, expressed delight at the gesture and assured that the furniture will be used for the purpose for which it was donated.
When I left the event, I attended an activity where we started discussing the need for issue based campaign as politicians are trying to get us to vote for them. A sister said GCC and other civil society organisations can contribute to development of education; but what do the politicians have to offer us and what are we as women and citizens are demanding from them?
For the education agenda, what we want has been carefully articulated by UNICEF and one of the political party’s issues on education
UNICEF reminded us that ‘Education is one of the most critical areas of empowerment for women, as both the Cairo and Beijing conferences affirmed. It is also an area that offers some of the clearest examples of discrimination women suffer. Among children not attending school there are twice as many girls as boys, and among illiterate adults there are twice as many women as men.
Offering girls basic education is one sure way of giving them much greater power — of enabling them to make genuine choices over the kinds of lives they wish to lead. This is not a luxury. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women establish it as a basic human right. That women might have the chance of a healthier and happier life should be reason enough for promoting girls’ education. However, there are also important benefits for society as a whole. An educated woman has the skills, information and self-confidence that she needs to be a better parent, worker and citizen.
An educated woman is, for example, likely to marry at a later age and have fewer children. Cross-country studies show that an extra year of schooling for girls reduces fertility rates by 5 to 10 per cent. And the children of an educated mother are more likely to survive. In India, for example, the infant mortality rate of babies whose mothers have received primary education is half that of children whose mothers are illiterate.
An educated woman will also be more productive at work — and better paid. Indeed, the dividend for educational investment is often higher for women than men. Studies from a number of countries suggest that an extra year of schooling will increase a woman’s future earnings by about 15 per cent, compared with 11 per cent for a man.
What would it take to improve girls’ access to education? Experience in scores of countries shows the importance, among other things, parental and community involvement – Families and communities must be important partners with schools in developing curriculum and managing children’s education. Low-cost and flexible timetables — Basic education should be free or cost very little. Where possible, there should be stipends and scholarships to compensate families for the loss of girls’ household labour. Also, school hours should be flexible so children can help at home and still attend classes. Schools close to home, with women teachers -Many parents worry about girls travelling long distances on their own. Many parents also prefer to have daughters taught by women.
In preparation for school, girls do best when they receive early childhood care, which enhances their self-esteem and prepares them for school.
Relevant curricula and learning materials should be relevant to the girl’s background and be in the local language. They should also avoid reproducing gender stereotypes.
 One of the states that have implemented some reformation policies in public schools said it is working. I do not want to mention the state to avoid being mistaken as a campaigner for any political party. On education, the governor ‘expressed pride that the public confidence in public schools have risen tremendously pointing out that a recent poll result on the issue returned 53 percent of citizens preferring to have their children in State owned primary schools as against 47 percent that opt for private schools while 69 percent as against 31 percent now prefer to have their children in State owned secondary schools.
We need to tell our politicians that most of them are products of public schools. They benefited from quality education which is why they are now empowered to even contest public office. Why not us?