Children’s Parliament Advocates Compulsory Girl-child Education In N/East

The speaker of the Yobe State Children Parliament, Hon Hamisu Mohammed has called on the governors of the northeast sub-region especially Borno, Yobe and Adamawa to make girl-child education compulsory in the region.

The speaker stated this during a press briefing on education for crisis-affected girls in North-east Nigeria organised by Save the Children International in Damaturu.

Mohammed said the call became necessary taking into consideration the effects of conflicts in the region on education which gravitated the number of out-of-school children, particularly the girl-child.

He said armed conflicts, humanitarian crises, kidnapping, natural disasters, displacements, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession have put the lives of millions of girls into a ‘basket of deprivation’ including lack of access to education.

“Girls living in fragile and conflict areas are particularly disadvantaged in terms of accessing primary and secondary education which deprives them of their right to education.

“Families prioritise their girls hawking on the street to raise money for feeding the family or getting them married early so that their husbands can support their poor families which makes them vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, early pregnancies for their bodies that are not ready to carry children.