The Universal Basic Education Commission has said less than 30 per cent of girls transit from primary to secondary school.
The Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, on Wednesday, who gave an opening remark at a two-day Regional Consultative Meeting titled, ‘Girls’ transition from primary to junior secondary education in Nigeria,’ said the data was disturbing.
Bobboyi, who was represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary, UBEC, Isiaka Kolawole, said, “A further analysis of the gender gap in education, especially in the basic education sub-sector, indicates that girls in the upper echelon of primary education face complex challenges in completing basic education and accessing health and economic opportunities within their domain.
“Importantly, available data indicate that primary school enrolment rate for the girl-child starts high and drops significantly with less than 30% of the enrolees transiting to the Junior Secondary level.”
He added that it was for this reason UBEC collaborated with UNICEF to address the gender gap in the UBE delivery, saying female students from six states, including Ondo, Lagos, Kwara, Oyo, Osun, and Ogun, were invited to the forum to explore issues regarding the root causes of girls’ inability to complete primary and transit to the JSS component of basic education.
Also speaking, the Director of Social Mobilisation, Ossom Ossom, maintained that it was important to ensure the successful transition of girls from primary school to secondary schools and higher institutions.
“The data we have is disturbing. At the forum, why should girls be educated to ensure we have less child marriage, child maternal mortality, and maternal mortality to ensure our environment is considered an enlightened community? We want to provide the right platform for the girl child to do better.”
The Executive Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, Wahab Alawiye-King, explained that “Our girls from the South-West zone of Nigeria, age 11 to 19 years, is the age of puberty. The age of self-consciousness as a girl child. We are here to ask what do you think can be done? We are here to identify all the causal agents that make girls unable to transit to secondary school and the preventive measures
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