Don proposes special fund for girl-child education
Education
By Martha Agas
Jos, July 17, 2018(NAN) A don, Oluwafunmilayo Para-Mallam, has urged the Federal Government to establish a special fund for girl-child education, saying the gesture will encourage their enrollment and attendance in schools.
Para-Mallam, a professor of Gender and Development Studies of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Jos.
She said that poverty was one of the major factors in the society causing parents and guardians to place premium on educating male children than females.
“Apart from our parochial society, which gives value to the male child as the heir of the family, poverty has also crippled many parents from taking their female children to school.
“When there are limited resources in the home, the male is considered first. The special fund for girl-child education will help in addressing the problem.
“The fund should be established solely to promote the girl-child education, especially for indigent homes in the North where the practice is more prevalent,“ she said.
The professor said that access to quality education was a human right of the girl-child, and she condemned the relegation of women as only children bearers.
She urged religious and community leaders to make conscious efforts to sensitise the society on the importance of the girl-child education, while commending the Plateau government for the gazette of the Gender Equal Opportunity (GEO) Law.
“The gazette of this GEO law will help in addressing infringement on the human rights of the female gender, enforce the engagement of more females in governance and help curb gender-based violence in the state,“ she said.
NAN reports that survey shows that 60 per cent of out-of-school children are girls and the states with the highest number of girls not in secondary school are in the North West, North East and North Central geopolitical zones of the country. (NAN)
MAA/GY
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Edited by Grace Yussuf