10 Importance Of Girl Child Education In Nigeria

Education is an activity that imparts knowledge or skill. Education gives us knowledge of the world around us, and if properly utilized, it changes it into something special.

Education is needed for development and improvement of a nation.  It empowers people and strengthens the nation.  It ensures equality, making it possible for all to come out of poverty by themselves.

Two of the eight MDGs pertain to education—namely, universal primary completion and gender parity in primary and secondary schooling.

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Girl- child education has been identified as the backbone of the advanced societies of the world. Girl-child education has impact in the Nigerian society and any other society for that matter? 

It is a serious issue that should not be treated lightly. Its impact in the society is numerous. Girl child education has a proven impact on the goals related to child, reproductive health.

Education also increases the growth of the economic, national productivity and innovation, as well as the values of democracy.

Girl child education benefits the individual, society, and the world as a whole. Education of good quality is one of the most powerful tools to decrease poverty and inequality.

In addition to its benefits for personal health, education also strengthens nations’ economic health by laying the foundation for sustained economic growth.

Education is key to creating, applying, and spreading knowledge thereby ensuring the development of dynamic, globally competitive economies. And it is necessary for the construction of democratic societies.

Girl -child education is very necessary and an issue that cannot be overemphasized. Every child should be given the opportunity to be educated no matter the gender of the child as both sexes can bring equal growth and contributions to the society.

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Importance of girl child education:

1. Girl child Education Reduces Inequality

Illiteracy is one of the biggest cause of poverty. Primary education is a lifter for girls, ethnic minorities, orphans, disabled people, rural families and those who are likely to be poor.

By providing them education, they become relevant to the nation and its growth. Education improves the girl, causing her to be productive and not a burden to the society.

Educated women can raise their voices to be heard especially to demand for equality and fairness on issues that concern them and their families. Having a voice that could be heard leads to reduction in the rate of domestic and sexual violence.

2. Education ensures economic growth

Productivity leads to higher income and improved economic performance. Education contributes greatly to improve a nation’s productivity.

Education increases income for wage earners and productivity for employers thereby increases the benefits for the community and nation as a whole.

3. Girl child education promotes economic competitiveness

One of the pillars of the knowledge-based economy is an educated and skilled workforce. Technical innovations and the competitive use of knowledge increases comparative advantage among nations.

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4. Girl child education raises productivity and earnings

Schooling increases the income for both men and women by a worldwide average of about 10 percent.

5. It reduce poverty

Education is vital to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. While two of the goals pertain directly to education, education also helps to reduce poverty, enhance environmental awareness, and does more.

Education lowers illiteracy rate which can give room for more women to be able to contribute financially to their families thereby making their families more capable of also securing education for their children. This also leads to lower poverty rate.

6. Lowers infant and child mortality as well as maternal mortality rates

Women with education seeks medical care, ensure their children are immunized, be better informed about their children’s nutritional requirements, and get improved sanitation practices.

This makes their infants and children healthier and better nourished thereby ensuring their survival. If girl child education is adequately provided, most women will take these necessary steps then the survival rate of children will increase.
Women with formal education have better knowledge on health care practices.

They are less likely to become pregnant at a very young age, they have fewer, better-spaced pregnancies, and they go for pre- and post-natal care. All these will reduce the rate of mortality among women if given girl child education.

7. It contributes to democratization

When there is smaller education gap between rates of boys’ and girls’ schooling the nation is most likely to enjoy greater democracy.

It would also increase women’s involvement in the political process as educated women can participate in politics and contribute to effective governance of the society

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8. Girl child education decreases women’s fertility rates

Women with no formal education has little or no idea of how to take necessary steps when it comes to fertility. Education brings to knowledge the use of family planning methods.

It has been estimated that one year of female schooling reduces fertility by 10 percent. Women, who have education use reliable family planning methods, delay marriage and childbearing, have fewer babies and ensure they are in good health.

9. Improves health and nutrition

Education benefits personal health greatly. It is essentially needed for girls as they tend to be the heart of a home, it affects reproductive health, and also improves child mortality and welfare through better nutrition and higher immunization rates. Education may be the single most effective preventive weapon against HIV/AIDS.

10. Girl child education limits the spread of HIV/AIDS infection

When girls get education, they are well informed and become less vulnerable. It reduces the spread of HIV/AIDS as it contribute to female economic independence, delayed marriage, family planning, and work outside the home.

Greater information about the disease and how to prevent it slows it’s spread. Girl child education produces women that easily embrace safe sex thereby reducing the level of sexually transmitted diseases and they also have knowledge of the preventive measures to take to avoid other diseases.

Every child, boy or girl, has the right to education. The woman is the foundation of the home. She could make it work or just break it.

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To the child, she is a friend, a teacher, a confidant, a counselor and the ‘hand that feeds’. These roles, which help a child survive, grow and develop into the best he can be, cannot be played efficiently if the woman has no education nor an understanding of the world her child lives in. As more girls go to school, it becomes easy to make Nigeria Great.

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