Stakeholders in the education sector have charged the Kano State Government on the need to be gender responsive in its budget on education to close the disparity and enhance girl child education in the state.
This is even as they said committing five percent of the total education budget to girl child education will boost girls’ access and delivery in the state.
The call was made during a one-day sensitisation and dissemination of findings on the gender responsive education budgeting baseline assessment in Kano State.
The assessment is a programme organised by the Bridge Connect Africa Initiative (BCAI) under the Bridging Access to Girls Education (BAGE) project supported by the Malala Fund.
Speaking during the event, the Lead Consultant, Mohammed Bello, highlighted that there is currently no system framework that guides the gender responsiveness in education budgeting in the state.
He explained that from the assessment undertaken by BCAI, under the BAGE Project, the gender disparity gap between the male and the female stands at 0.8 and 0.9.
Bello also noted that a more recent annual schools census report shows disparity in favour of the boys, a gap he noted required to be closed to ensure equity in educational access for the girl child.
He however called for the establishment of a gender education responsive framework for a more concrete foundation for sustainability.
Earlier in his welcome address, BCAI Director, Mohammed Sani, restated the organisation’s commitment to enhancing access to girl child education in the state.
He added that BCAI as a non governmental organisation is committed to empowering girls, women and young people in Nigeria and Africa.
