EDUCATING A GIRL-CHILD
It’s an essential strategy for achieving sustainable development,writes KHADIJAT OGIDO
Educating a girl-child is one of the most powerful tools for creating a sustainable, equitable, and prosperous society. The girl- child is provided with diverse basic knowledge,skills and training which contribute to national development. An educated child can only grow through a literate woman who has a greater chance of breaking the cycle of social vices by passing good knowledge to her daughter.
There is an adage that says, “Educate a man,you educate an individual,but educate a woman ,you educate a Nation “. This adage summarizes the essence of education to the girl-child.
Investing in girls’education transforms communities, countries and the entire world. Girls who receive an education are less likely to marry young and more likely to lead healthy, productive lives. They earn higher incomes, participate in the decisions that most affect them, and build better futures for themselves and their families.
Girls’ education strengthens economies and reduces inequality. It contributes to more stable, resilient societies that give all individuals – including boys and men – the opportunity to fulfil their potential.
But education for girls is about more than access to school. It’s also about girls feeling safe in classrooms and supported in the subjects and careers they choose to pursue – including those in which they are often under-represented.
A girl-child is described as a female child between infancy and early adulthood. During this period of the development of the girl- child, she is under the custody and supervision of adults who may be her parents or guardians and siblings who are older and more mature than she is.
According to United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF),research has shown that millions of girls do not have access to school despite the concerted efforts to push the cause forward.Okeke, Nzewi and Njoku (2008) identified child labour, poverty and lack of sponsorship, quest for wealth, bereavement, truancy,broken home, engagement of children as house helps, as clogs in the wheel of children’s access to education.
According to UNESCO estimates, globally 129 million girls are out of school, including 32 million of primary school age, 30 million of lower-secondary school age, and 67 million of upper-secondary school age. In countries affected by conflict, girls are more than twice as likely to be out of school than girls living in non-affected countries.
Most of the factors that militate against the girl-child access to education are socio-cultural. Many countries on the African continent rank among the poorest in the world. The on-going HIV/AIDS epidemics, over-crowding in cities, tribal warfare and despotic governments have contributed to the degeneration of the beautiful African land into a human rights catastrophe. At the centre of the devastating situation is the girl-child. The girl-children appear to be the most vulnerable and most undervalued members of the society. In a region where many are struggling to get enough food and to stay alive, remain out of reach of the various violent rebel armies, and to care for those stricken with various diseases, a basic education, especially for girl children, is low on the list of priorities.The right to education,which is a fundamental human right, is frequently denied to girls in some African countries.The then United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, stated that in Africa, when families have to make a choice, due to limited resources, of educating either a girl or a boy- child, it is always the boy that is chosen to attend school. In Africa, many girls are prevented from getting the education entitled to them because families often send their daughters out to work at a young age, so that they can get the additional income they may need to exist beyond subsistence level, and finance the education of sons .
It has been reported in BBC News (2006), that African patriarchal societal viewpoint favours boys over girls because boys maintain the family lineage. Additional reasons why girls do not have adequate access to education in Africa include the fact that many have to stay home to nurse relatives with HIV/AIDS. That their mothers were not educated is another reason that makes them feel that their daughters do not need education. Furthermore, some families do not believe in education of girls.
Many women who made it in life today also contributed immensely to the growth of the country and also serving as role model to the girl-child. Women like Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti,Margaret Ekpo ,Grace Alele Williams, Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala,Flora Nwanpa, Onyeka Onwenu, etc. These women couldn’t have achieved it without good education, and were given the opportunity because it’s their right.
Malala Yousafzai a Pakistan activist said “let us remember: one book , one pen , one child , and one teacher can change the world “.
Educating the girl- child is not just about going to school to acquire knowledge but to serve as a weapon and a.guide on how to shape her life and also to break the barrier of girl- child not having the right to education.
Michelle Obama said “when women are educated, their countries become stronger and more prosperous.
Investing in a girl- child education is not just a moral imperative, it is an essential strategy for achieving sustainable development and a better world for everyone.
