The importance of the girl child’s education to society

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By

Aliyu Musa Dada

A girl child is described as a female child between infancy and early adulthood. During this period of the development of the girl child, she is completely under the care of adults, mostly her parents, guardians or siblings, who are older and more mature than she is. Education generally is important to the society, but that of a girl child is believed to be more important. This is explained in the saying that if you educate a girl child, you educate a nation.

The Nigerian Constitution clearly stipulates that every child, be they a boy or girl, has the right to education. The Constitution even requires a free and compulsory education for children between the ages of six through to fifteen years. Available records show that there are over ten million out-of-school children in Nigeria, who at the same time are not receiving any form of training to help them better their lot in life.

The girl child is the first step to motherhood. Given the world we live in today, no one would wish to make an illiterate woman as a wife.

Below are some of the views expressed about a child girl:

• Girl child is preferred to study gynaecology, but because she is left behind, the field is dominated by males;

• Nowadays, male doctors are consulting in the labour room. This calls for concerted efforts for the education of the girl child in order to reverse the trend.

This takes us to the idea of motherhood. Who is a mother? She is a friend, a teacher, a confidant, a counsellor and the hand that feeds. These roles help a child to survive, grow and develop into the best he can be but that cannot be played efficiently if the woman is not educated. To the husband, she is a friend, a counsellor, a partner and a bed mate. Giving the girl child a chance to acquire knowledge will easily reverse the trend and make the world a far better place for all to live in.

#SupportTheGirlChildEducation

Aliyu Musa Dada

Aliyu Dada, a 100 level student of Bauchi State University Gadau (basug) from the department of biological science.