As Nigeria grapples with its 7.6 million girls out-of-school, the need to integrate gender and education issues into school policies and codes of conduct has been emphasised.
A report by the British Council said this would tackle gender-based violence, increase girls’ participation rates and school enrolment.
The report lamented that the creation of inclusive schools and girl-friendly spaces is hampered by ‘lack of knowledge, resources and, in some cases, policies.’
It also called for greater clarity in the way gender and education are discussed in policy documents and guidelines by international development actors.
Titled: ‘Challenging barriers to girls’ education,’ the report was authored by Bukola Oyinloye, Faith Mkwananzi and Patience Mukwambo on behalf of the council.
In the report, they noted that teachers were unaware of government’s sexual and gender-based violence guidelines, and there was little training in gender mainstreaming.
Besides, they pointed out that budgetary allocation to girls’ sport and toilet facilities was poor, while school documents rarely contained explicit gender equality statements.
“Teachers, head teachers and students all knew about school-related, gender-based violence, but there were limited mechanisms, such as safeguarding, in place to address it,” the report stated.
It would be recalled that at the commemoration of the International Day of the Girl in 2023, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had revealed that 7.6 million girls in Nigeria, mostly from the north, remain deprived of education.
According to the report seen by The Guardian,’ addressing constraints in relation to girls’ education remains a priority for governments and development actors globally.’
It called for a thorough understanding of the intrinsic, pedagogic, systemic and societal barriers that girls face in accessing equitable, inclusive and qualitative education.
Drawing from the British Council’s work in Africa, including research conducted with teachers and school leaders in Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria and Tanzania, and a stakeholder’s account from Kenya, the report highlighted the challenges teachers and heads of school face when creating inclusive environments.
“Collective reflections around gender and education should be mainstreamed at the school level, into everyday conversations between teachers (both female and male) and head teachers, as well as with communities. This would show educators that the work they are doing is part of a collective action, potentially encouraging them to persist in their efforts.
“Inclusive households and communities hold supportive attitudes and cultural practices around girls’ education and make educational decisions that are advantageous to girls.
“The research evidence reveals that girls’ schooling is constrained by a combination of intersectional challenges relating to poverty and cultural perspectives exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. High poverty level meant lack of money for school fees, uniforms, school supplies and, in extreme cases, hunger and famine. Sometimes, girls supplemented family incomes through hawking and petty businesses.
“Specific to rural and semi-urban areas were cultural perceptions that girls’ education is of less value than that of boys, parental neglect and child marriages. These challenges resulted in absenteeism and lower completion rates for girls,” the report noted.
