NGO Advises Parents to Prioritise Female Education

By Abdulrofiu Agboola, Osogbo

A Non Governmental Organisation, Value Female Network (VFN), has advised parents on the need to give priority to female education in the country.

The Organisation said this was necessary to strengthen the God-given female potentials and as well make women compete favourably in a strong competitive and dynamic society.

The Patroness, Value Female Network,  Barrister Tosin Falomo, gave the advice at a programme tagged “Still I Rise”, organised by the Organization, at Ifon/Erin Community School, Ifon, Orolu Local Government Area of  Osun State.

Falomo attributed high level of illiteracy among women as one of the factors upsurging poverty in the country, saying all hands must be on deck to fight the menace in a bid to triumph over the poverty that has eaten deep in the society due to lack of qualitative education among female gender.

The Organisation’s patroness who bemoaned the way and manner most of the parents do take the education of their female children, said investigations in most of the communities visited by the VFN revealed that girls are less in school attendance.

Speaking on, ‘Tips on Choosing Careers’, Falomo explained that education plays important role as a foundation for girls’ development towards productive adult life, adding at it is also an intrinsic part of any strategy to address the gender inequalities that remains prevalent in many societies.

She further explained that giving qualitative education to female children was in consonant to educating the world, thus the need for Nigerian parents to pay more attention to their female children.

According to her “when you educate a girl child, you educate the whole world. The essence of this belief is that the girl child will grow up one day to give birth to children who will in turn reproduce younger ones and so on, hence, education is important in the life of a girl child”.

Enumerating some of its advantages, the VFN Patroness said education for girl can have the benefits of delaying marriage and pregnancy for young girls instead of getting married before age of 18 and often suffering abuse from her husband.

She added, “Women who have formal education often have healthier families. These women are more likely to seek medical help from clinics or doctors, due to their ability to read and write. Literate women can understand doctor’s details, instructions and as well follow up for help if needed.

“An educated girl and woman would have learnt about HIV/AIDS and know many different ways to protect herself from getting the disease. Every year of schooling helps a girl make a better decision for her and her family.

Falomo who is the Secretary to the Board of Osun Internal Revenue Service, urged the female students who participated in the programme and their fellow female students to take decisive decision towards achieving their academic goals in a bid to become successful women in life.

She implored them to discover their talents, set financial goals, assess their social needs, taking advice from successful role models and read books and other informative literature on career choices, saying by doing so, they are getting to greater heights.

Earlier, the convener, Miss Aderibigbe Costly, said the programmes was aimed at sensitizing female students on the need to take their education seriously, adding that education for the girl child is very paramount to the development of any society.

Costly who described the sensitization programme as timely, said it is quite unfortunate that most of the parents nowadays do not deem the education of their female children as necessary as should be.

She attributed negligence of some of the parents in giving qualitative education to the girl child to lack of financial capacity, poverty among other social deficiencies, urging the girl children not to relent as they can still arise and become greater.

According to Costly, “the rationale behind this programme is to ensure that the female children are rise and become greater. I know poverty is eaten deep among the female children in our society but I know your family background, no matter what you are passing through you will still prosper.

She charged the students on the need to remain focused and determined, saying education is their right and they must embrace the opportunity to the maximum usage.

Some of the participants mostly students appreciated the VFN for putting up such educative, enlightening and help-noticing programme just as they promised to put what they learned in practice.