Chairman, House Committee on Women Affairs, Bauchi House of Assembly, Maryam Begel, said female students in some schools in the state were being withdrawn to engage in menial jobs to generate capital for their marriage.
Begel told newsmen in Bauchi on Wednesday that an interactive session she had with 60 secondary schoolgirls in the state revealed such practice.
Her words: “I had an interactive session with 60 girls of a particular tertiary school in Bauchi state and what I gathered from them was shocking.
“They complained that some parents were in the habit of withdrawing their daughters from school when they reach JSS two or three.
“They said such parents initiate their daughters into engaging in menial jobs to generate funds that would be used in buying items preparatory to their marriage.
“The girls were so disturbed and were lamenting that a lot of their colleagues have had their education either temporarily suspended, or completely terminated, on such grounds,” said Begel, who once served as a Child Protection Officer with an international non-governmental organization, ‘Save the Children’ (UK).
The lawmaker lamented that such action by parents was inimical to the development of the Girl-Child at a time campaign was being intensified to encourage the education of female children.
