To educate a girl child means to train her mind character and abilities. Education is a fundamental human right that should be available to every girl, irrespective of age and nationality. From time immemorial, the girl child has been known to be deprived of basic education. However, the focal point of this article will be the challenges to the girl child’s education and how to overcome them.

Major challenges to girl-child education will be addressed below;

Gender Discrimination

This is the unequal treatment of an individual or a group of individuals based on their gender. Gender discrimination exists in most parts of the world today. It begins as soon as a child is born. There is much happiness and celebration when a male child is born because of the importance attached to sex. This is due to cultural beliefs in society, Culture is the means by which humanity controls and regulates nature. Women are seen as closer to nature than men and therefore are inferior to men. Gender discrimination is a problem that has eaten deep into society. Women are seldom allowed to do their work; training opportunities are less open to women than to men.

Poverty

According to the World Bank, Poverty is the most important factor that determines whether a girl child can access education. Even in areas where parents do not have to pay school fees, it can be very difficult to keep up with the cost of transportation, textbooks and uniforms. If families can’t afford the cost of school, they’re most likely to send boys than girls because it is believed that the girls will end up in the kitchen cooking for their husbands someday.

Child Marriage

This is the marriage of a child under the age of 18, which happens all over the world. There are about 700 million women around the world who were married as girls, UNICEF reported in 2017. In sub-Saharan Africa, 4 in 10 girls are married under the age of 18. Parents let their daughters enter child marriages for various reasons. Some believe they are protecting their children from harm or stigma associated with having a relationship outside of marriage, but child brides who miss out on education are also more likely to experience early pregnancy, malnourishment, domestic violence, and pregnancy complications. For families experiencing financial hardship, child marriage reduces their economic burden, but it ends up being more difficult for girls to gain financial independence without education.

Illiteracy

This is the lack of knowledge in a subject; ignorance.  A lot of parents are ignorant of the importance of educating a girl child. Most parents allow their cultural and religious beliefs to influence their decision in allowing a girl child to attain formal education. For instance; Muslims in the Northern part of Nigeria discourage their Girl-Child from the fervent pursuit of formal education because of the belief that education makes women look down on men, and that it discourages many rural men from getting married to educated women. For this reason, most rural parents are not willing to invest in the education of their female children since such investment may well inhibit their chances of getting married on time.

How to Overcome these Challenges;

• Sensitization Programs: The importance of education in the life of a girl child can never be over-emphasized. The government or schools can establish or facilitate various programs that constantly reminds Parents and Guardians of the importance of the Girl- child education. Just to mention a few; It boost socioeconomic growth, it reduces child marriage, it increases female Participation in Politics, reduces Infant Mortality Rate, controls population explosion and many more.
• Free Education and providing School Supplies: Poverty as we all know Is a major challenge to the girl child’s education. However, if the government can be creating a scheme majorly to provide free education and school supplies to the girl child then the parents will no longer have an excuse for not sending the girl child to school.
• IMPLEMENTATION OF LAWS PREVENTING CHILD MARRIAGE: The government should enact laws that make child marriage a punishable crime. The parents of the girl child and groom should not be left out of the punishment.
• Teamwork makes the dream work: In overcoming these challenges, everyone has a role to play. Starting from the parents, government, the educational system, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and all and sundry in society. We should work together by creating awareness and supporting in the little ways we can either by providing school supplies or sponsoring a girl child.

In Conclusion, the girl child should be seen as a human being and should be given the opportunities to prove their worth. They should also be given equal education opportunities just as the boy child as a popular African adage says, ’If we educate a boy, we educate one person. If we educate a girl, we educate a family and a whole nation.