Girls education project has achieved its objectives, records increase in girls’ enrollment in schools, says UNICEF 

After 10 years of its implementation which resulted in the enrollment of more girls in primary and junior secondary schools in selected Northern states, the Girls Education Project (GEP 3) has officially come to an end with positive stories to tell.

In a speech delivered by Dr. Tushar Rane, chief of field office, UNICEF field office Bauchi at the closure event for the Girls education project III in Bauchi State held, on Tuesday, 27 September 2022 at Double 4 International Conference Hall, Bauchi, he said that the project has indeed achieved the set objectives of its introduction.

The Girls Education Project 3 started in 2012 and has been implemented for 10 years saying, “Even though today we are here to celebrate the “closure” of the project, it is in fact, an occasion to renew to the government of Bauchi and other education stakeholders in the state, UNICEF’s commitment for a long partnership on education in UNICEF new country program (2023-2027).

ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

• FG’s Order To Vice-Chancellors To Resume, A Joke Taken Too Far ― Ebonyi ASUU Chairman

• Ousted Delta Traditional Ruler Reinstated

• CAF disqualifies Volcan Club de Moroni from C/League

• Qatar 2022: Blame players for England’s woes — Sterling

• EDITORIAL: Agenda For CJN Ariwoola
• Girls education project has achieved its objectives, records increase in girls’ enrollment in schools, says UNICEF
• Girls education project has achieved its objectives, records increase in girls’ enrollment in schools, says UNICEF

He stressed that, “This renewed partnership benefits from 10 years’ wealth of experience of shared vision, achievements, lessons learnt and indeed challenges that hinder our collective efforts in providing education for all children.

Tushar Rane said that “with such wealth of experience, we are today much better equipped to tackle persistent challenges that face education in the state, including the emerging ones such as insecurity, COVID-19 and the devastating effects of climate change.

He also said that, “The Girls Education Project Phase 3 (GEP3) sought to ensure more girls are enrolled, complete basic education and acquired skills for life and livelihoods in northern Nigeria.

According to him, “The project was supported by UNICEF and implemented in partnership with the federal and state governments through the ministry of education, state universal basic education board, states’ agencies for mass education, and local government education authorities. It is funded by the government of the UK through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).”

The Girls Education Project phase 3 was implemented in six Northern Nigerian states with high-burden of out-of-school girls, namely, Kano, Katsina, Bauchi, Niger, Sokoto and Zamfara.

“As we close the GEP3 project, let me take the opportunity, to briefly highlight some of its key achievements: On access to learning, the partnership achieved an enrolment of 1.5 million girls in school; removed barriers to learning for over 50,000 boys and girls through cash transfers and changed perceptions of many parents on the importance of girl’s education.

“The project also aimed to enroll an additional 180,000 children in IQS, but it has exceeded this target by enrolling a total of 247,368 boys and girls. In Bauchi State, the girls’ retention rates to JSS 3 increased from 56.8% to 68.9% over the years,” he added.

Another result of the project is the capacity development of Education Management Information System (EMIS) at school, LGA and state levels, as well as head teacher capacity development in school records keeping, and overall management.

GEP3 invested heavily in teacher development which led to great improvement in learning outcomes as the percentage of teachers in Integrated Quranic Schools who demonstrate minimum teaching competencies because of being trained which has increased by 30% compared to 12% baseline.

“On behalf of UNICEF Nigeria country office, I would like to appreciate the generous and continuous support provided by the donor, and the great leadership role played by the government of Nigeria in the implementation of the GEP3 project,” he added.

Aliyu Usman Tilde then assured that the state government will carefully study the documents of the project to see to how it can be sustained in order to keep the tempo.