To combat low girl-child education in Nigeria, the Federal Government will spend at least NGN 1 billion (EUR 6.1 million) on the provision of sanitary facilities for female pupils in selected schools in 15 Northern states. Minister of Education, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili, revealed this while receiving National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria executives in Abuja. She said the need to expend such amount of money on sanitary facility was government's way of ensuring the prevention of contagious diseases via unhygienic toilets, bathrooms and other facilities.

The minister called on the NAPTAN members to always monitor and demand from state governments, how the monthly allocations collected from the federation account were utilised with respect to investment on education. Mrs. Ezekwesili, who blamed the poor quality of facilities in public schools on corruption, noted that the worst version of corruption was "the one that takes away the resources meant for health and education."

Source: Daily Champion/ allAfrica.com, 7 Mar 2007

Tags: gender, school sanitation