United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF says 418,614 girls were enrolled in Western Education in Sokoto State while 545,711 were enrolled in Zamfara between the year 2012 and 2022 under the Girl’s Education Project (GEP 3)
It also says 5, 943 Teachers in Sokoto with 486 as females had their Capacity built through the project while 5,650 Teachers of which 295 are females from Zamfara also Benifited from same project
880 Integrates Quranic Schools Facilitators (IQS) with 53 females in Sokoto and 400 from Zamfara with 39 as females were trained in Different fields
The figure according to the International agency represents 44% in Sokoto while 62% in Zamfara, adding that it is based on the progressive annual School Census data carried in the two affected states
The UNICEF Sokoto chief of field Office, Maryam Darwesh Sa’id disclose this while addressing participants at the ongoing three day Media Dialogue on Girl’s Education Project known as GEP3 in Sokoto state, Northwest Nigeria
The Media Dialogue is aimed at enlightening the media on the importance of the GEP3 Project and also to ensure state actors sustained the project after the donor agencies
The Girl’s Education Project GEP3 was kicked off in May 2012 with the aim of encouraging girl child enrollment in Western Education especially in the six Northern states of Zamfara, Katsina, Bauchi, Sokoto, Niger and kano which later joined in the year 2018
The GEP3 project is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the UK and implemented by the UNICEF in collaboration with the governments of the Six GEP3 States
The project in the six most affected Northern states cost the sum of over forty five billion Naira in the years under review
Darwesh adds that 1,280 Integrated Qur’anic School (IQS) facilitators were trained in the two states, out of whom 92 were females.
The project according to her is targeted at supporting efficient and effective governance, where no fewer than 13,094 school management committee members undergo relevant capacity trainings in both states..
“I urge the afdected states to ensure full implementation of the sustainability plan by incorporating it into their budget to capture required funding contributions for UNICEF supported interventions to facilitate strategic sustainability,” she said.
“there’s need to ensure those young girls and boys who had been provided with the opportunity of enjoying their rights to education continue to thrive and learn to become responsible citizens even in the future” Darwesh Maintained
She reassures of UNICEF commitment to continue to provide all the needed support towards the continuity of the program
Earlier in his address, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education Sokoto State Bello Abubakar, commend UNICEF and other Development partners for doing the Needful in the area of Education especially that of the girl child. , noting that the state has achieved alot under the Program
The Commissioner further said that government has put in place better school management, provided habitable learning environment, improved teachers’ methodology and promoted women-teacher model initiative, among others to sustain the project
Also Speaking, the Chairman of Sokoto State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Altine Kajiji, said that the state government has established seventy six post-basic literacy centres to boost learning at all levels
There are two centres according to him in each local government area, with one allocated to boys and one to girls, to promote formal learning.
Other activities expected during the media Dialogue includes visits to benifitting schools in three local government areas of Wurno, Shagari and Bodinga
The media dialogue is expected to end this thursday with presentations from participants splited into Different Groups
Participants at the training were drawn from Abuja, Zamfara and Sokoto states, UNICEF officials, Representatives of Sokoto and Zamfara State Governments, Other Development partners among others.
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