Chairman, House Committee on Women Affairs, Bauchi House of Assembly,
Mrs Maryam Begel, Wednesday, raised the alarm that female students in
some schools in the state were being withdrawn to engage in menial jobs
to generate money for their marriage.
She told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi that an
interactive session she had with 60 girls of a particular secondary
school in the state, revealed such practice.
“I had an interactive session with 60 girls of a particular tertiary
school in Bauchi state and what I gathered from them was shocking.
“They complained that some parents were in the habit of withdrawing
their daughters from school when they reach JSS two or three.
“They said such parents initiate their daughters into engaging in
menial jobs to generate funds that would be used in buying items
preparatory to their marriage.
“The girls were so disturbed and were lamenting that a lot of their
colleagues have had their education either temporarily suspended, or
completely terminated, on such grounds,” said Begel, who once served as a
Child Protection Officer with an international non-governmental
organization, ‘Save the Children’ (UK). The lawmaker lamented that such action by parents was inimical to the
development of the Girl-Child at a time campaign was being intensified
to encourage the education of female children.
Speaking on the reluctance of most Northern state governments to
domesticate the Child Rights Act, Begel blamed this development on those
that started the campaign for its application.
“From the beginning, the effort at explaining the content of the
document was scanty as a lot of people had not been adequately
sensitized.
“Most of the contents of the document are also backed by our
religions and tradition, for example, Right of child to education, good
health and humane treatment.
“Alongside the rights enshrined, are also obligations. The
campaigners however ignored the obligations and harped on the Rights,
thereby giving a negative perception of the document,” she observed.
According to her, the document can be domesticated to tally with
traditional and religious demands, but added that such move is too late
because the negative impression created in the minds of most people, is
already deep-rooted.