By IJEOMA UKAZU
As the Mothers And Marginalised Advocacy Centre, MAMA Centre, joins the rest of the world to commemorates the International Day of Education 2022, it is worried by the deterioting ratio of girls in school and calls for more policy attention as well as equal opportunity for girl child education enrolment.
With the theme: ‘Changing Course, Transforming Education’ MAMA Centre is not unaware that absence or poor implementation of enabling policy or law that engenders the girl child education by the governments accounts for low enrolment ratio of the girls into various schools.
In a statement signed by the Executive Director, MAMA Centre, Chioma Kanu said, “In the spirit of commendations reiterate our call for more policy attention and equal opportunity for girl child education enrolment and attainment at all levels.
“Just as we express total discomfort with continuous silence by some state governments over poor indices of girl child education enrolment and attainment, despite the recurring warning by the international community and various national institutions over its dreaded impact.
“We on this note recall that in October 2021, the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, reveals that over 1.3 million Nigerian adolescent girls are estimated to drop out every year before reaching the last year of lower secondary education, while a similar report by the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, in December 2019 states that 9.5 million girls aged between 10 and 17 are out-of-school in the country.”
Kanu added that MAMA Centre is seriously worried by delayed domestication and implementation of proactive policy or legislation to address the rising but unattended cases of school bullying that takes a toll on students’ mental health, socio-emotional and physical well-being. This includes other associated factors that discourage girl child education enrolment and attainment like early child marriage, child labour, period stigma, Gender-Based Violence, among other that stop girls from realizing their dreams.
The Centre therefore demand equal opportunities for girls to access quality education in order to actualise their potentials in the society, while calling for increased focus at both legislative and policy levels towards girl child education, particularly in the domestication and full implementation of relevant provisions of the Child Rights Act.
MAMA Centre also call for proactive policy response to recurring cases of bullying through targeted Anti-Bullying policy or legislation that addresses bullying in school environment; and specific amendment to the Violence Against Person Prohibition Act with provisions that sanction bullying outside school.
It however commend relevant efforts by the international community, donor agencies, regional institutions as well as government at all levels in policy formulation and implementation towards making quality, inclusive and equitable education accessible to all, as enshrined under United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4).