Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Yobe State in collaboration with Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) have called on Yobe State Government to establish Government Girls Day Secondary Schools in the major cities of the state so as to encourage the schools enrolment of the girl child.
The call was made on Thursday at a town hall meeting held at NEYIF Damaturu with participation of CSOs and Media across the state.
The meeting noted with concern the deteriorating school enrolments of the girl child in some parts of the state.
“If you look at it critically, at the primary and junior secondary school levels, the enrolment of the girl child is higher than their male counterpart, but immediately you go to the senior class and the tertiary institutions, their number reduce drasticallyâ€.
“Girl Child school enrolment at the higher levels is poor in this region, compare to their male counter part. The girls are either being giving out in marriages or engage into one local trade or the other by their parent†the statement read in part.
New Nigerian also gathered the challenges are not unconnected with the insurgency experienced in the Northeast, whereby parents are scared of taking their daughters to boarding schools.
Earlier in his welcome address, the CITAD Programme Officer, Isa Garba called on the participants to work towards lobbying government so as to encourage the girl child enrolment, stressing that the population is on the increase.
Yobe State government had allocated the sum of N400million for establishment of two Government Girls Day Secondary Schools in its 2018 budget fiscal year but is yet to see the light of the day.
The meeting also commended the state for providing learning infrastructure in many locations, calling on parents to change attitude by sending their wards especially the girl child to school so as to compliment the efforts made.
