Vunderkind
Social Member
“Educate, a boy and you educate an individual. Educate a girl, and you educate a community.”
Adelaide Hoodless (Feb. 27, 1858 – Feb. 26, 1910)
Canadian Educational Reformer
I was alarmed to read from the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) that 4.6 million Nigerian girls are not in school. This refers to girls who fall within the primary school age of 6 to 11. Now, if my calculations are right, what this means is that about 40 per cent of the total number of our children’s population are doomed to be illiterates, unless something is done fast.
Though I grew up in a society where the education of the girl child is not deemed important, I was lucky to have educated parents who enrolled me in school. Personally, my dream of becoming a Chartered Accountant would have been stifled, if my parents had not graciously sent me to school. Looking back at those years, I can still recollect that it was a very common joke in those days to say that a woman, irrespective of the level of her education, will end up slaving away in the kitchen. And because of this wrong belief, some women were denied formal education just because their parents considered it a waste of resources to educate their daughters only for her certificates to end up unused.
While I was privileged, the world would never know of the dreams of many of our young girls which never saw the light of day just because they were denied the kind of education needed to nurture it. Some of them would have been the best surgeons, lawyers, pilots, engineers and teachers ever to walk the surface of the earth if only they were given the chance. I have no doubt whatsoever in my mind that our society would have been much better than it is if more Nigerian girls had been educated.
In this age and time, ignorance, and illiteracy can no longer be tolerated in the girl-child education. They both foster poverty in the land. Excuses are no longer tenable from parents for not sending daughters to school. Even the fear of terrorism attacks should not be considered valid reasons for our daughters not to receive an education. It is high time parents, guardians and the society at large, are held accountable for an uneducated the girl-child.
The benefits of educating the girl-child are immense. Only an educated girl can have the right knowledge for social interaction, self improvement and status advancement. Only an educated child can identify her rights and demand it. A soundly educated girl-child stands a much better chance to turn out to be a good and valuable citizen. If properly educated, the girl-child can face the realities in the society, and more empowered to be a good wife and mother.
Without mincing words, I’d state that the education of our girls is a fundamental human right to be championed. This is a call to the Federal Government to ensure that the Child Right Act is strengthened and implemented in all the states. This would go a long way in check-mating the gender disparity in our country and pave the way for Nigeria’s #BetterTomorrowToday.
Mrs. Ifeoma J. Nwobodo writes from Enugu, Enugu State.
P.S
Please link back #BetterTomorrowToday to http://www.ifeoma-nwobodo.com/quote-day-november-20-2014-bettertomorrowtoday/
Adelaide Hoodless (Feb. 27, 1858 – Feb. 26, 1910)
Canadian Educational Reformer
I was alarmed to read from the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) that 4.6 million Nigerian girls are not in school. This refers to girls who fall within the primary school age of 6 to 11. Now, if my calculations are right, what this means is that about 40 per cent of the total number of our children’s population are doomed to be illiterates, unless something is done fast.
Though I grew up in a society where the education of the girl child is not deemed important, I was lucky to have educated parents who enrolled me in school. Personally, my dream of becoming a Chartered Accountant would have been stifled, if my parents had not graciously sent me to school. Looking back at those years, I can still recollect that it was a very common joke in those days to say that a woman, irrespective of the level of her education, will end up slaving away in the kitchen. And because of this wrong belief, some women were denied formal education just because their parents considered it a waste of resources to educate their daughters only for her certificates to end up unused.
While I was privileged, the world would never know of the dreams of many of our young girls which never saw the light of day just because they were denied the kind of education needed to nurture it. Some of them would have been the best surgeons, lawyers, pilots, engineers and teachers ever to walk the surface of the earth if only they were given the chance. I have no doubt whatsoever in my mind that our society would have been much better than it is if more Nigerian girls had been educated.
In this age and time, ignorance, and illiteracy can no longer be tolerated in the girl-child education. They both foster poverty in the land. Excuses are no longer tenable from parents for not sending daughters to school. Even the fear of terrorism attacks should not be considered valid reasons for our daughters not to receive an education. It is high time parents, guardians and the society at large, are held accountable for an uneducated the girl-child.
The benefits of educating the girl-child are immense. Only an educated girl can have the right knowledge for social interaction, self improvement and status advancement. Only an educated child can identify her rights and demand it. A soundly educated girl-child stands a much better chance to turn out to be a good and valuable citizen. If properly educated, the girl-child can face the realities in the society, and more empowered to be a good wife and mother.
Without mincing words, I’d state that the education of our girls is a fundamental human right to be championed. This is a call to the Federal Government to ensure that the Child Right Act is strengthened and implemented in all the states. This would go a long way in check-mating the gender disparity in our country and pave the way for Nigeria’s #BetterTomorrowToday.
Mrs. Ifeoma J. Nwobodo writes from Enugu, Enugu State.
P.S
Please link back #BetterTomorrowToday to http://www.ifeoma-nwobodo.com/quote-day-november-20-2014-bettertomorrowtoday/