Education as a solution multiplier

 

                    

     EDUCATION AS A SOLUTION MULTIPLIER

     The late Nelson Mandela once said ‘’ Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’’. Let look at education in this way, it is a life transformation, open future and above all a collective construction of a society. UNICEF surveys showed that the population of out of school children in Nigeria had risen from 10.5 million to 13.2 million and the highest in the world. Out of the 17 states in the country with the highest number of out of school children, 14 are in north.

      According to Save the children in its report, more than 1000 children have been abducted in the country since January 2021 and August. Experts have further predicted that with the current level of insecurity in the country, the number of out of school children is set to increase. Furthermore, in the north east and north west the female primary net attendance rate are low at 47.7 and 47.3 percent showing that over half of the girls are  not in school for reasons embedded in cultural and traditional norms and economic issues. Insecurity is crippling Nigeria’s education system. In most parts of the country, schooling comes with its fair share of challenges, but when students risk losing their freedom or lives at school.

      However, an estimated 258 million children and adolescent around the world are said not to have the opportunity to get enrolled in or complete school. By November last year, UNICEF said there had been 1,440 students abducted in Nigeria and 25 attacks on schools in 2021 alone. In the Northern Nigeria specifically, UNICEF said thousands of children in the region had been killed, married, abducted, display and experienced multiples violation of their human rights.

       UNESCO states that education gives children a ladder out of poverty to a promising future. Poor access to education is one of the major causes of poverty in Nigeria that affect education especially girls, while some families also sought to lessen their financial burdens by marrying their daughter off, most either did not school due to poverty and pressure to many. Lack of education contributes to a perpetual cycle of poverty.

       Gender- based violence has become so rampant across the globe. So many women have become victims of sexual violence (rape) physical violence, sexual harassment, psychological violence, forced abortion in their lifetime. But with more than 130 million girls not in school pre pandemic, and 20 million more at risk of never returning to school due to covid-19 disruptions, the world is denying girls their right while simultaneously missing a transformative solution to grave threat.

        Climate change is also a human rights issue and a pandemic that affects women than men, as climate change disrupts the environment, children are being forced to grow up in an increasingly dangerous conflict. Education gives girls the skills and knowledge to respond to climate- related disasters. Without education, girls are disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change. Today, 80% percent of people displaced by climate disasters are women and girls.

       A better educational system will lift millions of out of school children, education should be a priority for millions of out of schools in crisis. Education is one of the most critical area to empower children and women.

      According UN estimates nearly 23 million Afghans- about 55 percent of the population- are taking extreme level of hunger with nearly million at risk of famine as winter takes hold. The extreme poverty of Afghan families drives many children into hazardous jobs to find food or their families. The poverty induces many children to leave school. The condition of afghan children, has not improved despite the flow of billions of dollar from many agencies in Afghanistan. The extreme dire economic situation in Afghanistan has children are married off at young age. As most teenage girls, are still not allowed to go back to school, the risk of child marriage is now ever higher.

         In Pakistan, an estimated 22.8 million children are out of school, the second highest in the world. Gender inequalities are present across much of the education system, an estimated 12.2 million girls are out of school, compared to 10.7 million boys.

        Then in Mali, we explore the stories of vulnerable out of school girls who are escaping child marriage, thanks to the accelerated girls’ schooling strategy implementation by SWEDD mall project and partnership with the ministry of education.

 

 

Adeleke Adebola is an edufeminist, climate change and human rights activist. She writes from Abuja, Nigeria.

Email: oladosuadebola11@gmail.com