Girl Child Education and The Conservative Northern Families

By Babagana Zara
U13MM1001


Education has been recognized as the most important tool man has at his disposal to develop his environment and improve himself. According to The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations, education is one of the Fundamental human rights. Every child, regardless of gender, has a right to it.

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 of the northern Nigerian societies, the female child is often discriminated upon, right from birth to adulthood due to some traditional and cultural practices, which is why the rural areas of the region still lag behind in terms of education.  Not only the rural areas, even in the urban areas some families still need orientation and mobilisation in order to allow their children to enrol in schools up to tertiary level.

 Report by the Premium Times indicates that Northern states have Nigeria's worst girl child education. The subject of girl child education has become an issue of concern for many stakeholders in the region. Even after declaring education as a fundamental right, there are numerous hurdles that prohibit a girl child from actually getting education.

 The biggest hurdle is the prejudices that families have about girl-like, girls are slow learners, they are not rational; they are to be confined inside the domestic household, and why bother about educating them.

Only a handful of people have actually realised the importance of educating a girl. Though not a direct cause, the infamous dowry system is also another barrier in girl child education. Families often think of a girl as a burden and often want to save the money for their dowry rather than spending it on her education. There is a proverb that says “when you educate a man, you educate an individual and when you educate a woman, you educate the whole nation”. The United States of America has said it will offer support in education and empowerment of Northern Nigerian Youths, especially the girl-child.

Girl child education greatly benefits personal health. It profoundly affects reproductive health, and also improves child mortality and welfare through better nutrition and higher immunisation rates. Education may be the style most effective preventive weapon against HIV/AIDS. Women with some formal education are more likely to seek medical care, ensure their children are immunised, be better informed about their children's nutritional requirements and adopt improved sanitation practices. As a result, their infants and children have higher survival rates and tend to be healthier and better nourished.

Furthermore, Women with formal education are much more likely to use reliable family planning methods, delay marriage and child bearing, and have fewer and healthier babies than women with no formal education. It is estimated that one year of female schooling reduces fertility by 10 percent. The effect is particularly pronounced for secondary schooling.