The United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, has raised the alarm over 10 million girl child were out of school in Nigeria.
Chief of UNICEF Field Office in Kano, Rahama Farah, gave the statistics at a Media Dialogue on Girls’ Education under the Girls’ Education Project, GEP, 3, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, FCDO, and implemented by UNICEF.
According to him, this represents 60 percent of the 18.5 million total number of out of school children in the country, claiming that the majority of the out of school children were from northern Nigeria.
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“Currently in Nigeria there are 18.5 million out of school children, 60 per cent of these out of school children are girls – that is over 10 million girls are out of school.
“Most importantly, you will need to know that the majority of these out of school children are actually from northern Nigeria.
“This situation heightens the gender inequity, where only one in four girls from poor, rural families complete Junior Secondary school education. The situation with girls’ education in Nigeria has been further affected by attacks on schools.
“These attacks have created an insecure learning environment, discouraged parents and caregivers from sending their children to schools, while at the same time the students themselves become fearful of going to school. These attacks have particularly and specifically targeted girls,” he said.
He, however, urged the media to advocate for increased funding and allocation of adequate public resources to the education sector, especially adequate allocation and the release of what has been appropriated.
