Only four per cent of northern girls complete secondary school, says a survey by the Centre for Girl Child Education (CGE).

The centre’s board member Binta Muhammad disclosed this on Thursday in Sokoto.

Ms Muhammad stated that CGE was established in 2007 with 64 girls in rural communities in Kaduna after a baseline survey was conducted.

This week President Muhammadu Buhari stated in London that “you can’t succeed outside your educational qualification.” 

He added, “Anybody who missed education has missed everything.” 

Speaking on the CGE report, Ms Muhammad said, ”The survey indicated that only 25 per cent of primary school girls continue to secondary school, and only four per cent graduate secondary school.” 

She explained that the non-governmental organisation had improved access and quality of schooling and vocational training for rural and low-income urban girls in northern Nigeria.

She added that the CGE intervened in gender-based violence, intensive literacy, life skills, nutrition, and others in Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Borno, Bauchi, and Gombe.

The NGO pointed out that it supported 70,000 northern girls to stay in school or learn a trade.

”We provided free uniforms, transport fares, feeding among others to girls in order to ensure their enrolment, retention, and completion in schools,” she added.

Ms Muhammad explained that after the CGE interventions, about 90 per cent graduated from primary schools, and 70 per cent graduated from secondary schools.

”We are partnering community and religious leaders to design a curriculum that suits religious and cultural norms of respective societies, which facilitated acceptance,” she revealed. “We strive to ensure that governments remove educational levies, especially for girls child schools.”