Taimur Samad, the World Bank deputy country director, says more than two-thirds of girls in Nigeria drop out before making it to junior secondary school.
Samad spoke on Tuesday when he represented the country director, Ndiame Diop, at the national conference on girls’ education and empowerment held in Abuja.
The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) organised the conference with the theme, ‘Effective partnerships on girls’ education, out-of-school children education for national development.
Samad said the significant challenges of girl-child education include high dropout rates, early marriages, and teenage pregnancies.
“Over two-thirds of girls in Nigeria drop out of school before junior secondary school,” he said.
“Thirty-five percent are married by the age of 15, and 45 percent give birth before the age of 18.”
He commended the commitment of the federal government, state governors, and traditional leaders through AGILE programmes in reaching more than 25 million children across 18 states.
He added that more than four million children, including 2.2 million girls, had already benefited from improved facilities.
Tunji Alausa, the minister of education, said every segment of the nation must see the education of girls as a collective effort.
Alausa said his ministry recently inaugurated the national education sector renewal initiative (NESRI) as a strategic response to address the systemic challenges facing the education sector.
The minister explained that the initiative is to prioritise the education of the girl-child, recognising its role in reducing the number of out-of-school children.
