Education of pregnant girls should not be stopped – Women Minister

Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen has advised against halting the education of pregnant school girls.

Tallen gave the advice while speaking at a panel discussion organised by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs in collaboration with the World Bank.

The discussion was part of the sidelines of the 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) held on Friday in New York. The session focuses on Innovation and technological change education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

The panel discussion led by the minister, spoke to the theme of “Leveraging Innovative Approaches to drive Empowerment and Education outcomes for Nigerian Women and Girls’.’

Tallen while giving her remarks said that for Nigeria to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal on gender equalit by 2030, no girl should be left behind.

She said, “Economic empowerment is education; not just education of the girl-child, but even the second chance education for young girls that got pregnant while in school.

“They are sent away from school leaving the culprit (boy). She didn’t get pregnant alone but the person that got her pregnant will be allowed to go to school.

“No girl should be sent away from school because she’s pregnant. If she is sent away from school, the boy should also be sent away from school.

“She should be allowed back after having the baby and continue her education,’’ the minister said.

The minister noted that pregnant female students were already going through a lot, some of whom risked being disowned and sent out from the house by their parents.

“So, education of the girl-child is important, and we must always support the girl-child. The child belongs to all, it must not be your child.

Speaking further, Tallen who had led the ministry of Women Affairs since 2019, urged the incoming minister to ensure economic empowerment of girls and women and continue with the programmes of the ministry. She also tasked the persons in charge of the gender desks in the various ministries to be more effective in performing their duties.

“We have gendered services across all the ministries, like Ministry of Environment. When you talk of Climate Change, woman is central to that, and we have worked closely with the ministry on that. I will urge our desk officers in all the ministries to be more proactive,’’ she said.

Also on the panel was United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Nderitu, who emphasised on the need for women to acquire education in order to become empowered.

She also urged women to own their narrative.

“So, when I think about women’s empowerment, I think in terms of moving from that trajectory; we move from the knowledge that we have and move it to education. We move it to education in a way that we can teach others,’’ she said.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, “schoolgirl pregnancy” is cited as one of the primary barriers to girls’ education.

 

NAN