Bauchi State Commissioner for Education, Dr Aliyu Tilde, said the state Ministry of Education was working on strategies to check sexual harassment of female students by randy lecturers in the state.
Tilde stated this Tuesday in Bauchi while delivering his speech at an event to mark the International Day of the Girl Child, organised by the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Development.
The commissioner listed the major challenges of girl-child education as early marriage and sexual harassment by lecturers in higher institutions, among others.
“Some of the challenges of girl child education include early marriage, sexual harassment by some randy lecturers in high institutions of learning and the idea that women are second class citizens and as such, should be treated with disdain.
“However, the state Ministry of Education is working on strategies to ensure that, once a girl is enrolled in primary school, she would graduate to secondary school and to higher institution of learning.
“The ministry is also working on strategies to checkmate sexual harassment of girls in higher institutions of learning by some randy lecturers in the state; this would encourage more enrolment of girls into higher institutions,” he said.
The commissioner also frowned at laziness exhibited by some female staff of his ministry, warning that the current administration would not tolerate such attitude as there would be frequent assessments of performance of workers in the state.
Also speaking, the state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Child Development, Mrs Hajara Gidado, observed that more girls were now attended and completed schools, adding that the number of those who dropped out had reduced.
In her speech, Chief Executive Officer, Savannah Institute for Sustainable Development, Dr Laraba Abdullahi, said government must provide adequate access to education for the girl-child to develop herself.
In his reaction, Bauchi state Governor Bala Mohammed, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Mohammed Baba, said government would provide equal opportunities for both males and females to pursue their studies.
He acknowledged that the state government was aware of the peculiarities of the girl-child, and that efforts were being made to address the challenges.
