Millions of Nigerian Girls Still Out of School as Northern States Bear Heavy Burden
About 7.6 million girls are currently out of school across Nigeria, with nearly half of the affected children living in the northern part of the country, a girl-child education advocate, Muhammad Auwal, has disclosed.
Auwal made the disclosure in Maiduguri during a media training on improving collaboration between journalists and the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) programme. He identified poverty, early marriage, harmful cultural practices and unsafe school environments as major factors keeping girls away from classrooms.
He said available education data showed a significant gender gap in school participation, with girls recording lower attendance and completion rates than boys, particularly at the secondary-school level. He therefore called for stronger community-based interventions, urging traditional and religious leaders to champion girls’ education while encouraging governments and the media to sustain public awareness on its social and economic benefits.
The Borno AGILE Coordinator, Ibrahim Baba, said the programme was working to reverse the trend by creating opportunities for girls who had dropped out to return to school and improving access to schools within communities. He said more than one million girls had benefited from life, financial and digital literacy programmes, while education consultant Musa Konduga urged parents and northern state governments to adopt approaches that would make girls’ education a priority.
