Girl-child education as a tool for national development

Girl-child education is the key to the empowerment of the female child, it allows them to claim their rights and prepare them for the future to assume responsibility as duty bearers for the next generation. In most societies, the female child is often discriminated upon, right from birth to adulthood due to some traditional and […]

Girl-child education is the key to the empowerment of the female child, it allows them to claim their rights and prepare them for the future to assume responsibility as duty bearers for the next generation. In most societies, the female child is often discriminated upon, right from birth to adulthood due to some traditional and cultural practices.
As a result of prevailing gender discrepancies, most girls are excluded from school and end up uneducated. It is sad to note that more often than not, the exclusion of girls is as a result of ignorance on the part of some parents who see the education of the girl-child as a “waste of resources”. They believe strongly that there is no point in educating a girl when sooner than later she would be married off.
Another major setback in the educational development of the girl child is poverty. The low economic status of the rural and urban poor has often resulted in many families withdrawing their female children from school to give room for their male counterparts. Most times, the female child is subjected to street hawking or other petty economic activities so as to raise money to educate her male siblings.
As a result of the vulnerability of the girl-child, she is often sexually harassed by teachers and older men who capitalise on her naivety, thus resulting in unwanted pregnancies, abortion and its attendant consequences leading to the termination of her education pursuit.
The education of the girl-child is very vital and cannot be over emphasised as it enables her to accomplish things that she cannot otherwise. Armed with the weapon of education, she learns and applies information, attitudes, values and skills previously unavailable to her. The education of the girl is, therefore, very necessary in view of the benefits that will accrue to her, her immediate family, her community and the larger society.
Women who attended school often have healthier families. These women are more likely to seek medical help from clinics or doctors because they can read. They can also read nutritional labels and provide their family meals that promote growth and lower health risks and hazards.
Education also teaches young ones the importance of keeping herself and her household clean and safe, thereby been attractive to the occupants or the inhabitants.
The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has helped and supported in revitalising the education of girls in Nigeria through funding, raising awareness on girls’ education via public awareness campaign, rallies and seminars, building schools’ technical capacity to develop girl-friendly school environment and helping communities to sustain girls’ education.
Also, by promoting the employment of female teachers to serve as role models and increase parents’ confidence that their female children will not face sexual harassment in school.
It is already a known fact that girls’ education is a necessary and important aspect of eradicating poverty. In order for the benefits of the girl-child education to be reflected on the girls’ lives, their future families and also in the development of the country, the factors militating against their full participation in education must be removed.
If this is done, there will be appreciable increase in the number of girls that will acquire education and appropriate skills for development at all levels.

Peace is a 300 level student of Mass Communication, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai.