Early Marriage, Teen Pregnancy As Threats to Girl-Child Education – Leadership

A UNESCO report released on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child (11 October) shows that 180 million more girls have enrolled in primary and secondary education since 1995.

Three times more women are also now enrolled in universities than two decades ago, with particular progress seen in Northern Africa and Western Asia. In Morocco, parity was achieved in 2018, compared to just 3 women enrolled for every 10 men in the early 1990s.

Despite the encouraging progress, gender still plays a significant role in enrolment in many countries as girls are still more likely to suffer exclusion than boys, and this is further exacerbated by the current pandemic.

Amaka Mbadiugha was just in Junior Secondary School, class two when a neighbour got her pregnant. Even though the neighbour accepted responsibility for the pregnancy, he was unprepared for marriage and couldn’t take care of little Amaka.

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