Academics, Mothers Decry 18.5m Out-Of-School Children, Advance Solutions

Prominent academics, mothers and entrepreneurs, have decried the report that currently in Nigeria, there are 18.5 million children out of school and that 60% of whom (more than 10 million) are girls.

The respondents are: Professor of English, Department of English, University of Lagos, Prof Bose Afolayan; President and Chairman-In-Council, Chartered Institute of Loan and Risk Management of Nigeria, Dr Mrs Harriet Nkechi Akubuiro; Founder/Chief Executive Officer, No Left Overs Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Ayodeji Megbope and convener of the conference, Mrs Lechi Eke.

They spoke to New Telegraph on Friday on the sidelines of the Girl Child International Conference 2024 at the University of Lagos, Nigeria.

The conference which had the theme: “Girls’ Vision For The Future,’ was convened by Literature scholar, Mrs Lechi Eke.

They called on all stakeholders to address the high rate of out-of-school children in the country.

They also canvassed better treatment and opportunities for the girl child.
The speakers during the summit also urged the girl-child to maximize her talents and become a fulfilled and accomplished person in the society.

Eke said: “The 18.5million out-of-school children is sad and not good for our country. But instead of waiting for activists and government, the girl child can start doing something to develop herself and even take herself to school.

“Government has a lot of roles to address this challenge. There are a lot of innovations and advocacies now that were not there many years ago. Many people are into girl child advocacy.

They have to open their eyes and ears to find out the things that are going on. Right now the United Bank for Africa has essay competition that the winner will pick N7.5 million, the second runner-up will pick N5million, then the second runner up will go home with N3.5million.”

She added: “The essence of the programme is that the girl child should discover who she is. She should discover her identity and discover her purpose in life. Some parents are not thinking what to do to help the girl child.

“They are thinking of how she should go to her husband’s child. So the girl child should discover why God brought her into this world in spite of marriage. So even in marriage she should know that she is an individual and she should achieve something to herself.

“She has dreams. But without education, she can not even be thinking of her dreams. She may be thinking she will just have children and take care of the man. But God has brought males and females into the world for much more.”Afolayan said: “I do not feel good about the report that Nigeria has 18.5million out of school children and majority of them are girls.

“Inspite of that there are still a lot of girls in school. We are many in Nigeria and the girl child needs to be encouraged particularly. But when you are encouraging the girl child, we should also bring the boys along. The girl child will eventually get married to a boy and if he was not trained properly, then there will be a problem.

The girl child should not be discriminated against because of her gender. They should look out for the content she has and her capabilities. They should go for those before she is wrongly tagged.”

Megbope said: “This is very very disheartening. That is why it is important that at conferences like this, we get our parents represented because they are the ones that sometimes, discourage these children. Because if a parent understands his or her role in encouraging the child, in building self esteem in the child, in ensuring that the child’s needs are met regardless of the challenges they face, then we will see the reduction of children out of school.

“We hear of under- aged children getting married or getting pregnant. If the parents do all they should do, take care of the child, give the child priority, then these will reduce.

“Unfortunately, we have a government that, for so many years, have been paying lip service and not focusing on the girl child but also not focusing in child protection, child education and child empowerment.

“There is so much the government can do. The government can lay a good foundation. The government is supposed to create an enabling environment for these children to thrive and for these children to prosper. Unfortunately, we do not have that.

“That is why we celebrate people like Mrs Lechi Eke, who in her own, sees a gap and is doing what she can to feel it. So we, as the enlightened band empowered ones, if we are also able to do that, of course the light will shine across.”

She added: “My message is for every girl child to know that she is more than what the environment or society throws at her.

“She should know that there is a purpose that God has created her for and that purpose she should pursue and to pursue that purpose, she should have an understanding that she has everything to make her who she should become.

“She should understand that there is the need for determination, discipline, dedication and commitment. She should know that there is need for her not to compare herself with anybody.

“Everybody has unique gift and so it is important for her to discover the unique gift that she carries. She has to use it for the better and benefit of the society.”

Akubuiro said: “It is bad the report that 18.5million children are out-of-school and majority of them are girls.
There are indeed challenges for the girl child but it is important to be prepared to be able to handle the challenges.

“Yes, there are still girl children out of school but not as before. The government and the civil societies have been doing a lot. Things are not as they were before. Now, many of the girl-children are opportune and are not out of school.

“There are now opportunities to go to schools, so let them be prepared to welcome whatever opportunities they see as girl-children.”

She added: “The message is that the girl child should appropriate opportunities to maximize her potential. When she sees opportunities, is she ready to take them?

“The only way to take it, is that she must be active, assertive and resilient. All of these come when she first discovers who she is. She should identify her strength, and weaknesses.

She should identify what she can do best and not what her friend or sister can do, so that when opportunities come, she will take them. Risks can be opportunities and challenges. So when opportunities come, she will not miss them.”