Educating Girls and Ending Child Marriage and Early Childbearing: A Priority for Nigeria

Mrs. S. was married as a child, became pregnant, and was abandoned by her husband. She gave birth under very difficult circumstances, suffering from obstetric fistula. Her child suffered from palsy and died a few months after birth. Her story was told by Hon. Dr. Yusuf Sununu, the Minister of State for Education, who is a gynecologist, on October 11 at an event organized by the Federal Ministry of Education, Nigeria in Abuja to celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child, whose theme this year was “Our Time is Now – Our Right, Our Future.”

The event was co-sponsored by UNESCO IICBA and the World Bank’s AGILE project and attended by some 200 participants, including delegations of young girls and some boys from area schools. Also in attendance was a small delegation from Kaduna State where the Center for Girls’ Education has been implementing for a dozen years a safe space program to keep girls in schools and delay marriage and childbearing. For UNESCO IICBA, the event followed on a national dialogue on gender and data organized in March 2023 under KIX Africa 19, the Knowledge and Innovation Exchange Hub for anglophone Africa funded by the Global Partnership for Education and Canada’s International Development Research Center. 

Parts of the event were celebratory. This included amazing dances by girls and a theater-like sketch (Dance Drama), both serious and funny, on how girls can suffer when marriage is forced on them by their parents, or they are not able to remain in schools. Parts of the event were also a stock-taking exercise to assess where Nigeria stands in its quest to educate all girls at least up to the senior secondary level and end both child marriage (entering into a formal or informal union before the age of 18) and early childbearing (having a first child before the age of 18). The State Minister of Education gave poignant remarks, including the story of Mrs. S. while UNESCO IICBA presented the results of analytical work that will result in a report on gender inequality in and through education in Nigeria as part of a broader Africa-wide program of work.

The report will make the case for why investments in girls are crucial for Nigeria’s development. Part of the analytical work to be featured in the report is already available in a series of Knowledge Briefs on IICBA’s website. The briefs document recent trends in girls’ educational attainment, as well as the prevalence of child marriage using the latest available Demographic and Health Surveys for 2013 and 2018 (see Nigeria: Basic Profile of Early Childbearing and Nigeria: Basic Profile of Child Marriage). They  demonstrate the very strong relationship between on the one hand girls’ education and child marriage, and both the other hand child marriage and early childbearing (see Nigeria: Girls’ Education, Child Marriage, and Early Childbearing across States). Basically, educating girls up to the senior secondary level is the best way to end child marriage, which would also drastically reduce early childbearing and maternal mortality.

Low educational attainment for girls and child marriage have negative impacts on a wide range of development outcomes not only for the girls themselves, but also their children, families, communities, and societies. Girls dropping out of school early are more likely to marry or have children early, before they may be physically and emotionally ready to become wives and mothers, as the story of Mrs. S. illustrates. This may affect their own health and may also affect that of their children. For example, children of mothers younger than 18 face higher risks of dying by age five and being malnourished (see Nigeria: Girls’ Education, Early Childbearing, and Child Health). They may also do poorly in school. Other risks for girls and women associated with a lack of education include intimate partner violence and a lack of decision-making ability in the household. 

Through lower expected earnings in adulthood and higher fertility over their lifetime, lack of education for girls leads to higher rates of poverty for households. This is due to both losses in incomes and higher basic needs from larger household sizes. Fundamentally, a lack of education disempowers women and girls in ways that deprive them of their basic rights. 

At the level of countries, a lack of education for girls can lead to substantial losses in national wealth. Human capital wealth is the largest component of the changing wealth of nations, ahead of natural capital (such as oil, minerals, and land) and produced capital (such as factories or infrastructure). By reducing earnings, low educational attainment for girls leads to losses in human capital wealth and thereby in the assets base that enables countries to generate future income (see Nigeria: Gender Inequality and National Wealth). 

Low educational attainment for girls is also associated with higher population growth given its potential impact on fertility rates (see Nigeria: Girls’ Education, Child Marriage, and Fertility Rates). This may prevent the transition that could generate the demographic dividend. Finally, low educational attainment for girls may lead to less inclusive policymaking and a lower emphasis on public investments in the social sectors, as well as higher risks of conflicts and violence. Overall, the message is clear: educating girls is not only the right thing to do. It also makes strategic sense for countries to fulfill their economic potential while also promoting peace and sustainable development. 

What can be done to ensure that all girls complete their secondary education, could virtually end child marriage and would also drastically reduce early childbearing? The first step is to understand the local context that leads girls to drop out of school and get married as children (see the two-part Knowledge Brief on qualitative insights from Hausa communities in Niger and Nigeria on girls’ education and child marriage: Part 1-Parents and Part 2-Adolescent Girls). Once the local context is understood, there are wonderful examples of successful programs to learn from, such as the program led by the Center for Girls’ Education in Nigeria mentioned earlier (see Nigeria: Pathways to Choice, A Program to Educate Girls and Delay Marriage).

Although this cannot be discussed in detail in this blogpost, a key argument made by UNESCO IICBA at the event in Nigeria was that for investments in girls’ education to succeed, special attention must be placed on empowering teachers for all learners to thrive. Lack of learning in schools is a major driver of girls dropping out, which increases the risk that they will be married and have children before the age of 18. To improve learning for boys and girls alike, improving teaching in general is key. But specific aspects related to gender also matter. In many countries, female teachers and school principals appear to improve learning, yet only a small share of teachers and principals are women. The same is likely true in Nigeria. Gender-responsive pedagogy is essential to improve educational outcomes, yet it is not widely practiced. Preventing gender-based violence in schools is also key. We will come back to these topics in this blog, but the event in Nigeria was a great opportunity to celebrate the Girl Child, while also taking stock of what remains to be done to give all girls the opportunities they deserve.