Stern action should be taken against those who deny girls access to education.  Education minister George Saitoti yesterday told an international seminar on girls' education in Nairobi that laws and policies in Africa did not provide sufficient punishment against gender offenders.

"School managers rarely take action against parents who withdraw their daughters for marriage, teachers who sexually abuse students or boys who bully girls at school," he said, blaming laws and policies for failing to punish such offenders.

The enrolment of girls in schools was yet to pick up significantly despite Government efforts, he said. Prof Saitoti also said negative cultural practices had condemned 25.2 million girls in Africa to remain out of school. The figure represented 60 per cent of the 42 million out-of-school children in the continent.

"Attitudes are changing at a very slow pace, especially among rural populations and among illiterate parents," he said.

He singled out the tendency by some parents to marry off their school-going daughters or withdraw them from classrooms at the slightest excuse as some of the negative practices that were keeping girls illiterate.

High levels of poverty in most African countries had also kept many girls out of schools as "many parents cannot afford to send their children to school."

Poverty had also pushed more girls than boys to engage in child labour because many parents preferred to educate their sons and not their daughters.

It is estimated that 68 million children in Africa are engaged in child labour out of the 211 million facing the same fate worldwide.

Due to inadequate teaching and learning materials and difficult working conditions for teachers, Prof Saitoti said many pupils were performing poorly in examinations.

Source: AllAfrica.com