As the world marks the International Day of the Girl Child with the theme ‘Ending Child Marriage’, the Action Aid Group in Nigeria is advocating the ratification and full implementation of the Child Right Act in all 36 states of the federation.
Deputy Country Director, of the Action Aid Group, Mrs Ifeoma Charles-Monwuba said the weak implementation of the Child Right Act which was enacted in 2003 has encouraged the continued practice of child marriages in Nigeria.
Only 23 states of the federation have ratified the Act while 12 states especially in the northern region are yet to.
A recent report by Action Aid says that 36 million girls of school age are not in school globally and Nigeria accounts for 6 million of this number.
Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike had confirmed the figure at a one-day interactive meeting with stakeholders on girl-child education in Gusau, Zamfara State on the 17th of June 2012.
Wike said the figure represented 62 per cent of school age girls nationwide.
According to him, recent imbalance in enrolment figures of girls, when compared to those of boys, is about 10 per cent in the south and 40 percent in the north of the country.
The Minister said an estimated 10 million Nigerian children of primary school age were not enrolled in primary schools because of some challenges.
Such challenges include the lack of political commitment, poor planning and management as well as gender blind curriculum, he said.
Others are skewed female-male teacher ratio, segxwal harassment of girls, poverty and erroneous interpretation of religious teachings.
Common sense is indeed not common.
Posted: at 11-10-2012 07:12 PM (12 years ago) | Hero
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