Expert Tasks Govt On Girl Child Education

Zonal Director of Ministry of Education, Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State, Dr. Christiana Sibor, has called on government at all levels to invest more in girl child education to stem rapid population growth in Nigeria.
In an interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt, Dr. Sibor said the girl child education should be given priority attention in the yearly government budget; especially in the education section to enable the girl child obtain sound education and better skills for sustenance in life after school.
She added that education could cause couples to become knowledgeable in matters relating to family planning as well as alter traditional high fertility norms, stressing that educated men and women are less likely to depend on children as means of old age support.
She therefore, called for vigorous pursuit of education, especially for the girl child, coupled with social and economic development, if fertility and population are to be drastically reduced.
Dr. Sibor maintained that girl child education will enhance women’s status and create more egalitarian relationship among couples as well as foster inter-spousal communication regarding family size and planning.
She also said that it would help raise the age at which marriages are contracted for the girl child and also change the lifestyle and world view of men and women.
Meanwhile, the director cum counselor has also warned against rapid population which she said has adverse effect on any nation.
According to her, as long as Africans perceive large families as advantageous or as long as children are perceived as economic assets that contribute to household economy which serve as means of old age security support, high fertility will persist unabated.

Happiness Chioma