There is no more valuable investment than in girl's education “Ban Ki Moon, former UN Secretary General”.
Educating a girl child is one of the best investment her family, community, and Country can make. We know that a good quality education can be life-changing for girls, boys, young women, and men, helping them develop to their full potential and putting them on a path for success in their life's. We also know that educating a girl in particular can kick-start a Virtuous circle of development. More educated girls, for a example, Marry Later, have healthier children, earn more money that they invest back into their families and communities, and play more active roles in leading their communities & Countries.
The greatest favour one can do to himself or herself is “to get education” and to others “to give education”. According to the Chinese proverb, education is the best Legacy to give to a child because “giving your child a skill is better than giving him or her one thousand pieces of gold.
Females like their Male counterparts have the right to education and skill acquisition, the right to choice and self-actualisation. But what we see in most societies today is the other way round, especially in African Communities. Many girls today, do not have adequate education past a certain age.
When a girl is at the age of 12 - 14 years old, the elders in the community feel she's “ripe for marriage” and their words are LAW. So what are her words worth when the elders in the community have spoken? A girl who's given out in marriage at a very tender age is placed at a very high risk. She's not matured enough to be a wife/mother, without any skill, information and confidence that might lead to her being a better mother and wife if she were educated.
The native Traditional philosophy is that a woman's place is in her husband kitchen and her primary role centres on her home. This belief have kept many girls away from education. When a girl is giving out in marriage at a very tender age to a man old enough to be her grandfather, her right as a human has been abused, she has also been deprived of her right to education and will be doomed to be illiterate forever if her husband doesn't give her opportunity to school after a wedding.
Enabling female education is crucial for national development, and the role of a women cannot be underestimate. The general belief is that “when you educate a man, you educate one but when you educate a woman, you educate a nation. Educating the girl child produces mothers who are educated and who will in turn educate their children, care for their families and provide for her children.
Therefore, educating the girl child translates to better health for the future generation, reduction in child morbidity and mortality thus triggering a snowball effect to achieving all other sustainable development goals in a viable manner.
The girl child needs to be educate to acquire knowledge and skills needed to advance her status for social interactions and self-improvement. The girl child education also prepares her to face the reality in society and teaches her to be a good wife and mother. When she is educated, she realised the full potentials to be whoever and whatever she wants to be. With education, she would break the shell of ignorance and open that of self-discovery.
Finally, the child's right act should be strengthened and implemented. This will go a long way in checkmating indiscriminate Child Abuse. This is because, as girls are not educated, they remain dependant on their parents before marriage, on their husbands after marriage, and on their children if eventually their husband die. Would you as concerned, caring and loving father or mother wish to see your daughter in this condition. This calls for encouraging the girl child education. An investment in girl child education is never a waste, Give the girl child a voice!!!
