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By Sunday Ani
The House of Representatives Committees on Women in Parliament and the their counterparts in the Basic Education system have reiterated their commitments to the amendment of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act, 2004, which is aimed at providing free, safe and quality girls’ education up to secondary school level.
The two committees made the pledge recently during the commemoration of the 2021 International Women’s Day (IWD).
The event, organised by Malala Fund and its education champions, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) and the #AmendUBECAct Coalition, provided an opportunity for the House Committee chairman on Women Parliament, Taiwo Oluga, to highlight the need for gender-responsive education policies in Nigeria.
She argued that since women make up more than half of the country’s population, it is imperative to educate and empower them, so as to enable them to contribute to the nation’s development.
She, therefore, stated that the Green Chambers was committed to completing the on-going amendment process of the UBEC Act 2004.
In the same vein, chairman of the House Committee on Basic Education, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, decried the high rate of out-of-school children, describing it as shameful and unacceptable. He called for the political will and democratisation of budgeting processes in resolving the looming out-of-school children crisis.
Oluga and Mansur Manu Soro joined other lawmakers in the Green Chambers to demonstrate their unwavering commitment to girls’ education and the amendment of the UBEC Act by signing the Legislative Declaration on COVID-19 and Girls’ Education.
Country representative, Malala Fund, Crystal Ikanih-Musa, expressed fear that after the COVID-19 crisis the number of children out of school might worsen due to increased rate of poverty, household responsibilities and child labour.
“Before the pandemic, an estimated 13.2 million children were out of school. School closures forced an additional 36 million enrolled students out of school. The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the girls’ education crisis in Nigeria. If leaders don’t act now, we may risk losing another generation of girls,” he said.
