Nigeria: Unicef Returns Over 300,000 Girls to Schools in Katsina

Nigeria’s north-west region has the highest number of out of school children in the country.

More than 300,000 girls of school age have been enrolled in schools in Katsina State through the Girls Education Project (GEP3) intervention project of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Kano field Education Officer, Muntaka Mukhtar, has said.

The GEP3 was implemented by UNICEF in Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Bauchi, Kano and Niger states with the support of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the UK.

Mr Mukhtar, who made this disclosure in Katsina during a three-day training on girls’ education with journalists, said, the project, through community campaign, peer support to girls and family negotiation, has improved the attitude of residents towards girls’ enrolment and completion of schooling.

“Since 2012, 210 head teachers have acquired knowledge and skills on school management, hold professional development meetings with staff and provide pedagogical leadership. The project has also improved teachers’ capacity to ensure they deliver effectively.

“Foundational learning has also been boosted through the early learning, literacy and numeracy, approach with a focus on teaching a community,” he said.

Mr Mukhtar added that 180 Girls for Girls groups were created in 60 junior secondary schools across six participating local government areas in the state.

More than 500,000 still out of school

Despite the success story, Mr Mukhtar said the state has a record 536,132 out of school children.

According to him, the data was made available by the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC.

He said the identified gaps in equalising school attendance betweèn boys and girls, and common gender norms continue to put girls at disadvantage, leading to school dropout at a higher rate.

According to him, the trend forces parents to prioritise the education of boys over girls. He said it also encourages child marriage.

“Every day, girls face barriers to education caused by poverty, cultural norms, poor infrastructure, violence and fragility,” he said.

Insecurity drawing us back – Katsina govt

In his remarks, Ashiru Sani, the permanent member at the Katsina State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), said the insecurity in the state is rolling back efforts to increase the enrolment of the out of school children.

Mr Sani said bandits’ attacks have either led to parents not sending their children to schools or communities (including schools) being deserted by residents.

“Insecurity, has no doubt, affected child enrollment in the state. In some communities, you see that schools have been vandalised by the bandits. What they do sometimes when they attack a school, they burn down buildings including schools. So, in some of those places, it’ll be difficult for children to go to burnt down schools.

“In some places, you’ll find that residents of communities have been forced to flee due to constant bandits’ attacks. When they leave their communities and find somewhere to live as refugees, they find it difficult to enrol their children into schools,” Mr Sani said.

He, however, said the interventions by the UNICEF and other development partners have yielded some positive results.

Mr Sani said the N20,000 scholarship given to every enrolled girl by the UNICEF and the training of teachers are complementing the efforts of the state government aimed at increasing the enrollment of children in school.

Source:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *