The United Nations Chidren’s Fund (UNICEF) says more than 1.4 million girls have been enrolled in schools in northern Nigeria through the Girls’ Education Project-3 (GEP3) in the past 10 years.
Dr. Tushar Rane, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Field Office Bauchi, stated this at the inauguration of the Media Dialogue on Girls’ Education under the GEP3, on Wednesday in Bauchi.
He said the GEP3 was being implemented in Bauchi, Kano, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto and Zamfara states with assistance of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the UK.
The UNICEF Official said the girls had been enrolled in schools since inception of the programme in 2012.
According to him, education of the girl child is critical to transforming communities, reducing inequalities, and strengthening economies, adding that “when we educate the girl child, child marriage and child mortality rates reduce,”
Rane said in spite of the benefits of educating the girl child, 60 per cent of the over 10 million out of school children in Nigeria were girls.
“The situation with girls’ education has been worsened by attacks on schools which have made learning environment insecure and discouraged parents and caregivers from sending their wards, particularly girls to schools,” he said.
He said the GEP3 initiative was designed to enhance the enrollment drive for girls, improve learning outcomes for girls and strengthen government’s policy making for continued support to girl child education.
According to him, UNICEF with support from development partners, is collaborating with government to build the capacity of School-based Management Committees (SBMCs) and Community-based Management Committees (CBMCs) on school safety and security, and to make communities more resilient.
He said the GEP3 project increased the school enrollment as 650,265 girls enrolled into preprimary and Integrated Qur’anic Education School in Bauchi State.
He disclosed that 9,000 girls and boys had been empowered through the “Girl4Girl and HeForShe” activities of the project to create demand in their communities.
Rane said the project, through viable programmes, trained about 11,000 teachers to strengthen their capacities, adding this was crucial for retention of girl children who enrolled in schools.
“About 11,000 teachers received training on topics such as leadership skills to enable effective running of schools, Early Grade Reading pedagogies to enable early grasp of literacy skills and other key topics essential for effective service delivery.
“The project successfully strengthened school governance system through the facilitation of eight annual school census, strengthening school record keeping, developing Local Education Sector Operational Plan to align with the state Education Sector Plan, and improving the functionality of SBMCs and CBMCs.
“UNICEF is grateful for the support from the government, and local partners, who made these successes possible, thereby getting more girls to school.
“We believe that the partnership will enhance the sustainability of the project’s successes beyond the implementation time frame,” he said.
He said the media had a critical role to play in advancing the education of the girl child, and urged media practitioners to work towards encouraging girls enrollment in schools and increase budgetary allocation to education sector.
“The media must lead the advocacy to remove these barriers. To ensure safe, conducive, inclusive, and enabling environment for all children to learn, we must work together.
“Advocate for policies that promote access to education and in turn increase enrolment, retention, and transition for all children, especially the girl child,” he said.
He further urged development partners, parents, communities, traditional and religious leaders to promote girls enrollment in school, and address barriers such as child marriage, that affected girl child education.
Earlier, Ahmed Idris-Hardawa, Permanent Commissioner 1, Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), said the state goverment had approved N100 million to fast track implementation of GEP3 project in the state.
He said the state recorded significant improvement in enrollment and retention in schools under the project.
He said the project would enhance girls’ education and empower them to achieve their full potentials.
While reitrating the state government’s commitment to transform the education sector, Idris-Hardawa said the board would collaborate with relevant stakeholders to advance girl-child education in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the exercise is being attended by over 50 participants drawn from media organisations, UNICEF, and SUBEB in Bauchi and Niger States.
(NAN)