From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Women in Technical Education and Employment (WITED), Kaduna Polytechnic chapter, has made a strong case for girl child education development.
Speaking on Tuesday at the National Conference in Kaduna, WITED Kaduna Polytechnic Coordinator Dr Comfort Anave Mado-Alabi said the organisation is all about girl child development.
Dr Mado-Alabi said women in technical education and employment have been doing their best to ensure girl child education gets top priority across the country as well as global attention.
However, she disclosed that one of the major achievements of the organisation was the self-financing of its various programmes, stressing that finance has been a major challenge to WITED.
“We must promote women’s entrepreneurship as a catalyst for advancing women’s programme support for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
“We are also talking of gender inclusiveness because men too suffer what girl child suffers.
“It is no longer what a man can do, a woman can also do, but it is now whatever opportunity that comes women can also do it”. She said.
This was even as the chairman of the occasion, who is the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Kaduna State, Dr Asma’u Maikudi, said that the girl child needed quick access to education.
While speaking to formally declare the event open, Dr Maikudi called on relevant authorities to look into the nation’s Constitution and make amendments where girl child development and education are not well captured and addressed.
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The INEC Commissioner used the occasion to call on all eligible voters to obtain the permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), “because you cannot put in place the leadership you want without having the card to vote on election day.
“This is a democracy, you must have to vote if you want to have a new leadership because coup d’etat is no longer acceptable.”
Earlier, the Convener of WITED and Deputy Rector, Academics, Kaduna Polytechnic, Dr Rosemary Kato, who equally represented the Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr Suleiman Umar said the organisation has been a source of pride to the polytechnic.
This, he noted, was as a result of WITED’s concerted efforts and academic approach to encourage the girl child to key into sciences and other related programmes of studies.
“The theme of this year’s conference, ‘Gender Inclusiveness and Diversity Issues’, and its sub-themes, could not have come at a better time than this.
“Girl child education in all its facets has become a global concern, causing many countries to come up with enabling policies and programmes aimed at encouraging the educational pursuits and attainment of the girl child.
“I heard it said in some quarters, through mainly anecdotal than empirical evidence, that the girl child performs better than her male- counterpart in academic pursuits. It is on this basis that proponents of girl-child education usually say, “to deny a woman education is just like an effort to kill the society,” the Rector said.