Nigeria's girls and the struggle for an education in the line of fire

Despite the plight of more than 200 abducted Nigerian schoolgirls grabbing the world's attention, there remains insufficient focus on the wider issues of education and gender politics in Africa's most populous country.

Nigeria has the highest number of children out of school. Of the 57 million youngsters worldwide who are not receiving a formal education, more than 10 million live in Nigeria – and in the current climate that number is rising.

The majority of non-attendees are girls, mainly in the majority-Muslim north. Of those fortunate enough to enrol, less than two-thirds complete primary school and even fewer girls finish secondary school.

In regions where women have a lower social status, many parents opt to send their girls to work in markets rather than to school. A lack of education vastly reduces a child's chances of escaping poverty and has led to many girls becoming wives before their 16th birthday.

The bride price a family can command for their daughter is seldom linked to her educational achievement, so some parents see no incentive in sending their girls to school. These worrying attitudes are exacerbated by some religious leaders, who argue that educating girls is un-Islamic.

The anti-poverty charity ActionAid has been challenging such beliefs in northern Nigeria for years. Working with local communities and religious leaders, our team has helped to promote girls' education and show how the Qur'an positively values their schooling.

We are pressing for the recruitment of more female teachers, since Muslim parents are likelier to send girls to school where their teacher is a woman. We have seen how the construction of sanitation facilities, particularly separate lavatories for girls, has encouraged many pupils to stay in school.

Social attitudes are slowly changing in parts of the north, but so much more can be achieved with greater investment. Additional funds have not been forthcoming, however. Despite recently overtaking South Africa as the continent's biggest economy, Nigeria invests less in education than almost any other country in Africa.

There are two key indicators of good practice in education expenditure: governments should spend 6% of gross domestic product, and about 20% of their budget, on schooling. Nigeria spends just 1.5% and 6% (pdf) respectively in those areas. Based on Unesco calculations, there is scope for the government of Nigeria to more than treble its education spending.

More funds for education could also be raised if the country expanded its tax base, axed unnecessary tax holidays for foreign investors, and challenged aggressive tax avoidance.

Additional spending on schools would be transformative for Nigeria, where a third of the 140 million-strong population is aged between 10 and 24.

Sadly, the tide has been rushing the other way. The government has shut several schools amid the growing panic over Boko Haram. But this move has, in effect, only played into the hands of the Islamist extremists. President Goodluck Jonathan should instead focus on bolstering security at schools and keeping buildings open.

As well as calling for decisive action to bring back our girls, we should push Nigeria to invest more in schools, take a tougher stance on student security, and work harder at closing the gender gap in education. Communities need to be persuaded that educating girls is vital, and reassured that schools are safe enough to attend.