New Telegraph

Malala Fund calls for action for girl-child education

Malala Fund Education Champions in Nigeria report has revealed that girl-child in Nigeria faced distinct gendered impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic as distance-learning measures failed to reach them.

 

According to the Fund in the report launched recently on Girls’ Education and COVID-19 in Nigeria, the new data indicated that girl-child in Nigeria faced distinct gendered impacts during the pandemic, with over 50 per cent of girls receiving no help to continue education during school closures due to coronavirus.

 

The report, which analysed data collected from 2,253 respondents in Kaduna State, however, documented a widening gap for girls’ learning access during the COVID-19 lockdown. The Fund further noted that the girls surveyed in Kaduna State experienced less access to learning resources, increased domestic burdens and a lack of academic support from their families.

 

The report also indicated that the government’s distance learning programme did not reach all students as10 per cent of girls and 24 per cent of boys accessed distance learning    offered via television, while only 18 per cent of the children used radio for study and two per cent used mobiles.

 

The data, which provides a sample data set emblematic of educational disparities across Nigeria during the lockdown, also revealed that while the mothers supported boys and girls almost equally, the fathers were 36 per cent more likely to assist their sons’ learning than their daughters.

 

In general, it noted that boys were more than twice were likely to have access to a private tutor during the pandemic, even as the report revealed how the economic impact of COVID-19 is affecting families and therefore girls’ education, with over 80 per cent of adults facing financial difficulties.

 

In the report, Malala Fund Education Champion and Programmes Manager at Restoration of Hope Initiative, Benjamin John, said: “I have spoken to many families in different communities during the lockdown. My interactions reveal that financial constraints will be a major factor in the decision to re-enrol girls in school due to dwindling income.”

 

Besides, the report documents insufficient government guidance on how to ensure that girls in lower socio-economic and conflict-affected states will re-enrol in school when the pandemic is over. Meanwhile, as schools reopened across Nigeria, the report called on state and Federal Government officials to ensure safe, gender-responsive reopening plans across the country.

 

The report further called on the government, among others, to provide gender-equitable and inclusive distance learning to support all students through current and future school closures; ensuring safe and gender-responsive as schools reopen as soon as possible; and to mitigate economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis to help families prioritise education. It also urged the government at all levels to protect progress for girls’ education and rebuild the education system with gender at the centre to promote inclusive growth and ensure that every girl can learn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, the In-Country Representative at Malala Fund, Crystal Ikanih-Musa, added: “Before the pandemic, an estimated 13.2 million children were out of school.

 

School closures have forced an additional 36 million enrolled students out of school. COVID-19 pandemic is exasperating the girls’ education crisis in Nigeria. If leaders do not act now, we risk losing another generation of girls.”

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