The Executive Secretary (ES), Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr Hamid Bobboyi, has decried gender gap in basic education, noting that less than 30 per cent of girls make it to junior secondary school.

According to him, primary school enrolment rate for the girl-child starts high and drops with lower percentage of the enrollees transiting to the junior secondary level.

Bobboyi spoke DUduring the opening of the Regional Consultative Meeting on girls’ transition from primary to junior secondary education in Nigeria.

Female pupils from Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, and Osun states attended the meeting.

The meeting was organised by UBEC, in partnership with United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Nigeria and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office(FCDO).

” We are aware that a significant proportion of our girl children for one reason or the other still do not have access to nor are able to utilise available basic education opportunities.

“Importantly, available data indicate that primary school enrolment rate for the girl-child starts high and drops significantly with less than 30 per cent of the enrollees transiting to the Junior Secondary level,” he said.

Bobboyi noted that despite the interventions of the Federal Government and other stakeholders, girls in the upper cadre of primary education face complex challenges in completing basic education as well as accessing health and economic opportunities within their domains.

The ES was represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary of the commission, Dr Isiaka Olayinka Kolawole, however, said it was imperative to address those challenges with the commission’s partnership with UNICEF.

Bobboyi also said UBEC established the All Girls Model Schools to boost girl child education.

Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board(LASUBEB) Chairman Wahab Alawiye-King said the meeting was timely as it would address factors militating against girls’ transition to junior secondary school.

“Every child matters to us in Lagos. Access, equity and standard matter to us. We are gender sensitive. We lay emphasis on our pupils, but with special attention to girls because of challenges they face,” he said. (The Nation)

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