UNESCO, FCT partner on girl-child education

The Education Secretary, Federal Capital Territory, Mr Kabiru Usman, on Tuesday pledged the ministry’s cooperation with UNESCO to improve the country’s education sector. Usman gave the pledge in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja. He said the ministry shared the vision of improving girls and women education, given its attendant benefit of boosting the development of the nation. Usman said that the partnership with UNESCO involved empowering girls and women in the FCT and Rivers in a phased initiative by the world body. He added that women and girls who were out of jobs would also be empowered through the scheme. “There is a saying that when you educate a woman, you educate a nation and thereby enhance the development and productivity of a nation. “This is because the woman is the manager of a home and through this avenue inculcates in the children values that would benefit the family, society and the nation at large. “Neglecting the education of the girl child is doing a great disservice not only to the person. “So with this partnership, we expect to see a lot of progress and development, particularly with the two states,” he said. According to him, achieving the global goal of Education for All will only be made possible if the girl child and women education is given priority. Usman said that the ministry would collaborate with the Ministry of Communications Technology to enhance ICT knowledge among women in the territory. “Report has it that only 13 per cent of women in the territory are literate. “The ministry is making effort to improve and increase the number of educated people in Nigeria and as such women must not be left behind in this drive,” Usman said. He said the ministry was making deliberate efforts to develop teachers in the drive to transform the nation’s education sector. “The quality of education is determined by the quality of teachers and as such, Nigerian teachers must be well-equipped to develop the sector,” he said