Girl-child education gets boost as Reps pledge to speed up UBE Act amendment

TWO committees of the House of Representatives have reiterated their commitment to amending the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act 2004 towards ensuring free, safe and quality girl-child education up to the secondary school level in the country.

The House committees on Women in Parliament and the Basic Education made the pledge during an event to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day celebration in Abuja, recently.

The event was organised by Malala Fund and its Education Champions, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) and the #AmendUBEAct Coalition, as part of the wider Malala Fund COVID-19 campaign strategy aimed at ensuring more gender-responsive legislation and plan for the recovery phase of the pandemic in Nigeria.

Highlighting the need for gender-responsive education policies in Nigeria, chair, House Committee on Women in Parliament, Taiwo Oluga, said women constitute about half of the country’s 200 million population.

He therefore reiterated the need to educate and empower women towards contributing to the nation’s development.

According to her, in a statement made available by the coalition, the House of Representatives is committed to completing the ongoing amendment process of the UBE Act (2004).

The bill which is currently at the committee stage is seeking extension of free and compulsory education from nine to 12 years to cover senior secondary school, and also an increase in basic education funding and promotion of gender-responsive learning, among others.

On his part, the chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education, Professor Julius Ihonvbere said it is shameful that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children globally.

He said though the number of out-of-school children in the country is always being put at between 10 and 13 million, the figure would be around 20 million if all scenarios across the states are factored in.

He said political will and democratisation of budgeting processes on the part of government would greatly help in resolving the crisis.

Also speaking, Malala Fund’s In-country representative, Crystal Ikanih-Musa, said it was unfortunate again that the COVID-19 pandemic has further pushed up the number of out- of- school children, especially the girl-children in the country.

He said political leaders would need to act fast so as not to lose another generation of girls, noting that the amendment to UBE Act would surely lead to long-term gains in basic education, girl-child education, gender parity and the economy generally.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.