The new reading programme is promoting gender equality in education.
All children, no matter where they live or what their circumstances, have the right to quality education - UNICEF
One in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria. According to UNICEF, even though primary education is free and most compulsory, there are about 10.5 million young children aged 5-14 years not in school. This condition has been noted to be much worse in the northern part of the country that has the most population of uneducated individuals as well as out of school children. Just like other African countries, the issue of gender inequality along with that of poverty and insufficient resources, are all important factors contributing to the pattern of educational marginalisation in many ways.
HER! initiative, is a feminist non-governmental organisation, founded on July 28th 2021, aimed at advocating and pushing to see that equality can be achieved when it comes to matters relating to young women in Nigeria. Their very first project, “SHE READS” is aimed at reaching out to young girls between the ages of 4-15 years, in the bid to contribute to gender equality in education and seeing that girls are offered the same opportunities just like the average boy.
“I strolled into a book and now, no one can find me….”
According to further statistics by UNICEF, only 44.7% of young women are allowed to have a formal education. This fact only speaks to the harsh reality that more than 50% of young girls in Northern Nigeria are out of school. When it comes to the deprivation of young girls benefitting from formal education, there are several factors contributing to gender inequality, including; economic barriers, socio-cultural norms, practices and patterns, as well as existing belief systems.
As said before ‘She reads’ is the first project for the initiative in contributing to female education, the organisation hopes to create an enabling environment for learning and improving the quality of education as a humanitarian assistance by providing books for these young girls. This program does not just seek to provide books for young girls, but also explores ways in which they can see to the monitoring of these girls to ensure that they improve their reading skills, while also preparing them for opportunities later in the future. Although the initiative has other programs planned out for the children, they are also looking to make this program a continuum.
As such, this is a program that will continue to be maintained as the initiative believes that the best way to make a positive and sustainable impact on matters relating to equality is to ensure that things are not done halfway. Of course, as time goes on the initiative would also seek ways on how we can get these girls in classrooms on fully funded or partial scholarships. It is because of this that the initiative is opening its arms to the public, for the provision of books. This is a call for the donations of books, brand new or used for the children.
This reading program is also going to serve as a form of emotional getaway for these girls. We hope to help these girls find comfort in reading. So instead of relying on negative varieties to find comfort and peace, they can find this in reading. Reading then becomes a safe haven for them and a method of not just physical or academic improvement but also allows a space for emotional improvement too, and in one way or the other improving their overall mental health.
Readers are leaders, and to make our girls leaders we need to equip them with the right tools so that they can occupy the spaces they were born to be in! This is a fight for equality and it doesn’t end here!
Written by Stella Oyekanmi
Edited by Amna Akram & Munya Mwaijumba
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