By Audu Abba Kurama, Maiduguri
A girl denied an education is not merely a child kept away from the classroom, she is a future doctor whose skills may never heal a patient, a future teacher whose knowledge may never inspire another generation, a future entrepreneur whose ideas may never create jobs, and a potential leader whose voice may never influence the decisions that shape her community.
This is the profound cost of denying girls access to education. It is a cost that extends beyond the individual, deep into families, communities and the future of society.
Education is often described as the foundation of development, but its significance becomes even more apparent when we consider the girl child. Educating a girl is not simply an act of fulfilling a fundamental human right; it is a strategic investment in human capital, economic productivity, public health, social stability and intergenerational progress.
Yet, in many communities, a girl’s opportunity to learn remains determined by circumstances she did not create: poverty, insecurity, harmful cultural practices, early marriage, gender discrimination and the persistent belief that educating a boy is a better investment than educating a girl.
This perception is not only unjust, it is profoundly shortsighted.
The price of an unfinished education
Imagine a young girl sitting at home while her brothers prepare for school. She watches them leave with their books, their uniforms and the promise of possibility. She, meanwhile, is expected to help with domestic responsibilities, hawk goods, care for younger siblings or prepare for a marriage she may not fully understand.
Her exclusion may appear ordinary to those who have normalised it. But beneath that ordinary scene lies an extraordinary loss.
A society that systematically limits the education of its girls restricts its own intellectual capacity. It narrows the pool of skilled professionals, weakens economic participation and deprives itself of talents that could contribute to solving its most pressing problems.
The consequences are particularly serious in communities affected by poverty, displacement, conflict and humanitarian emergencies. In such settings, families may be forced to make difficult choices about which children attend school, while insecurity, inadequate infrastructure and the absence of safe learning environments further complicate access to education.
For girls, these barriers can be compounded by menstrual health challenges, long distances to school, inadequate sanitation facilities, sexual harassment and the risk of gender-based violence.
The challenge, therefore, is not simply to get girls into classrooms. It is to ensure that they can enter school safely, remain enrolled, learn effectively and complete their education with the skills and confidence needed to pursue meaningful opportunities.
Education is empowerment, not a privilege
There is a dangerous tendency to treat girls’ education as a charitable intervention rather than an essential component of a just and functional society.
Education is not a favour bestowed upon the girl child by her family, community or government. It is a right that should be protected, supported and made accessible without discrimination.
When a girl receives a quality education, she gains more than the ability to read and write. She develops critical thinking, financial literacy, problem-solving skills and the confidence to make informed decisions about her life.
She becomes better equipped to understand her rights, recognise exploitation, navigate social and economic challenges, and participate meaningfully in public life.
An educated girl is more likely to have access to a wider range of livelihood opportunities. She can contribute to household income, participate in entrepreneurship, support her family and make informed decisions about health, nutrition and the wellbeing of her children.
The benefits extend across generations. When educated women are given opportunities to apply their knowledge and skills, their contributions can strengthen families, improve community outcomes and support broader national development.
This is why girls’ education should never be reduced to a conversation about individual advancement. It is a question of collective prosperity.
Beyond the classroom: Breaking the cycle of inequality
One of the most compelling arguments for educating the girl child is its potential to interrupt the transmission of poverty from one generation to the next.
A girl who completes her education has a greater opportunity to acquire marketable skills, access decent work and exercise greater control over her economic future. With appropriate support, these opportunities can improve the circumstances of her family and expand the prospects available to her children.
However, education alone cannot eliminate inequality. A certificate does not automatically guarantee employment, financial independence or social acceptance. Girls must also have access to quality learning, relevant skills, safe workplaces and fair opportunities to participate in the economy.
This distinction matters.
The objective should not merely be to increase school enrolment figures or celebrate the number of girls who graduate. It should be to create an environment in which their education translates into genuine opportunity, meaningful participation and the freedom to shape their own futures.
A girl should not have to choose between education and personal safety. She should not be forced to abandon school because her family cannot afford basic learning materials. And she should not discover, after years of academic effort, that society has no place for her ambitions.
The true measure of progress is not simply whether girls attend school, but whether they can learn, thrive and put their education to productive use.
In conflict-affected communities, the urgency is greater
In Nigeria’s North-East, particularly in communities affected by years of insurgency, displacement and economic hardship, educating the girl child carries an additional significance.
Conflict disrupts more than buildings and infrastructure. It fractures family life, interrupts childhood and undermines the institutions that enable communities to recover. Schools may be damaged or inaccessible, teachers may be displaced, and families may struggle to meet the costs of keeping their children in education.
Girls in these circumstances can face heightened risks of early marriage, exploitation, gender-based violence and prolonged exclusion from learning.
For a displaced girl, returning to school can represent much more than academic continuity. It can restore routine, rebuild confidence, provide a sense of belonging and offer a pathway towards a future beyond the immediate consequences of crisis.
But that pathway requires deliberate investment.
Governments must rehabilitate schools, recruit and retain qualified teachers, strengthen school safety and expand access to learning opportunities for displaced and underserved children. Humanitarian and development partners must support education programmes that respond to the specific needs of girls, including psychosocial support, menstrual hygiene facilities and flexible learning arrangements for those whose education has been interrupted.
Communities must also recognise that protecting a girl’s education is inseparable from protecting her dignity and safety.
The responsibility cannot rest with government alone. Parents, traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil society organisations, teachers and the private sector all have a role to play in dismantling the barriers that keep girls out of school.
Culture must be a source of strength, not a barrier to progress
Conversations about girls’ education sometimes become unnecessarily confrontational, as though empowering girls requires communities to abandon their identities, traditions or values.
That is a false choice.
Communities can preserve their cultural identity while embracing the principle that girls deserve the opportunity to learn, develop their talents and contribute to society. Cultural values are most constructive when they promote dignity, responsibility, compassion and the wellbeing of every member of the community.
Parents who educate their daughters do not diminish their families. They expand their families’ possibilities.
Traditional and religious leaders can help challenge misconceptions, encourage school attendance and demonstrate that the pursuit of knowledge is compatible with responsible family and community life.
Most importantly, girls themselves must be heard. Policies designed to improve their educational outcomes should reflect their lived experiences, aspirations and concerns. Their participation should not be an afterthought in discussions about their futures.
A society cannot credibly claim to empower girls while excluding them from conversations about the decisions that affect their lives.
What must change?
If educating the girl child is to move from aspiration to reality, the response must be practical, sustained and measurable.
First, governments must treat girls’ education as a development priority rather than a ceremonial commitment. This requires adequate funding, functional schools, qualified teachers, reliable learning materials and accountability for educational outcomes.
Second, families must be supported to overcome the financial pressures that often force children out of school. Scholarships, school feeding initiatives, transport assistance and targeted support for vulnerable households can help reduce the cost of education.
Third, schools must become safer and more inclusive. Functional sanitation facilities, appropriate menstrual health support, protection from harassment and effective reporting mechanisms are essential to ensuring that girls can attend and learn with dignity.
Fourth, communities must confront harmful practices that interrupt girls’ education, including forced and early marriage. Awareness campaigns should be accompanied by accessible support services, legal protection and sustained engagement with parents and community leaders.
Fifth, educational opportunities must extend beyond primary and secondary schooling. Girls need pathways into technical and vocational education, science and technology, entrepreneurship, higher education and emerging fields of employment.
Finally, governments and development partners must measure success by more than enrolment. Attendance, retention, learning outcomes, completion rates, transitions to higher education and employment opportunities should all inform assessments of progress.
These measures are not luxuries. They are essential components of an education system that recognises the full potential of every child.
The future is being shaped in today’s classrooms
Every generation inherits choices made by the generation before it. One of the most consequential choices any society can make is whether to educate its girls or allow preventable barriers to determine their futures.
The girl child is not merely a beneficiary of development. She is a potential architect of it.
She could become the medical professional serving a rural community, the teacher nurturing the next generation, the journalist holding institutions accountable, the scientist advancing innovation, the entrepreneur creating employment or the public servant shaping policy.
But these possibilities cannot flourish in an environment that denies her the opportunity to learn.
The question, therefore, is not whether society can afford to invest in girls’ education. The more fundamental question is whether it can afford the consequences of failing to do so.
Every girl kept out of school represents a talent left undeveloped, an opportunity unnecessarily restricted and a future made more difficult than it needs to be.
Educating the girl child is not merely about giving girls a chance to succeed. It is about building a society capable of benefiting from the knowledge, creativity and contributions of all its people.
A classroom door opened to a girl is a door opened to possibility. A quality education gives her the tools to walk through it. And a society that ensures she can do so safely and freely is a society investing not only in her future, but in its own.
The time has come to move beyond declarations, campaigns and promises. Every girl deserves an education that prepares her not simply to survive the world as it is, but to participate in shaping the world as it ought to be.
