Girl-child education: Group identifies sexual harassment, early marriage as barriers

Bauchi State chapter of the women group, High-Level Women Advocates (HILWA) has identified sexual harassment, insecurity and early marriage as some barriers to girl-child education in the state.

The Secretary of the group in the state, Hajiya Halima Dimis, made this known in Bauchi on Friday.

She said women and girls in Bauchi State had continued to face barriers such as sexual harassment, ethnicity, poverty, disability and early marriage based on their gender.

Other problems, she said, were peer group influence and the lack of sanitary facilities which denied them enjoyment and the right to quality education when compared to the males.

Dimis said HILWA officials were able to identify the barriers after a visit to various female schools in the state.

She added that “we visited some schools in the state and interacted with the female students over the barriers to their enrollment and retention in school.”

She, therefore, urged the government to look into the barriers and other harmful practices against the girl-child with a view to tackling them.

The scribe stressed the need to promote inclusive education for girls with disabilities in schools, pointing out that HILWA, in partnership with UNICEF and the Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board
(SUBEB) were working to strengthen girl-child education.