Education

How Jigawa govt, UNICEF, others are addressing out-of-school children

The Jigawa State government, in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), has embarked on a five-day “Train the Trainers” program for community engagement strategies on mentoring and monitoring. The goal is to improve and maintain the quality of formal and informal schools in the state.

In an exclusive interview with Online Tribune, the UNICEF focal point officer at the Jigawa State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Hajiya Umma Abdulkadir, stated that the project, funded by the European Union through UNICEF, aims to train 470 School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs) and Community-Based Management Committees (CBMCs) from 10 local government areas in the state.

Abdulkadir explained, “The 470 participants were drawn from School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs) and Community-Based Management Committees (CBMCs), desk officers, and officials from the Agency for Mass Education. They are also expected to return to their respective areas across the selected 10 local government areas to train others.”

She added, “After these five days of training, our target is for these 470 participants to go back to their respective areas and train another 2,820 individuals using the newly Revised National Operational Manual, as well as the Guidelines for Mentoring and Monitoring Systems.”

According to her, “The aim is to remind and develop the skills of the engaged community-based committees, focusing on their expected roles and responsibilities, especially regarding attendance, retention, completion, etc., in formal and non-formal schools such as Islamiyya and Tsangaya, ensuring that children start, proceed, and complete their education.”

“This aligns with the wishes and target plans of the EU and UNICEF to have wide coverage on the children of Jigawa State.”

She stated, “in this regard, another training is ongoing at the Manpower Development Institute in Dutse on the Learners Unit Record Information and Tracking System (LURITS).”

Abdulkadir maintained that LURITS is a master’s training aimed at tracking learner records of enrollment, attendance, performance, and completion through attendance registers from the head teacher to achieve control of out-of-school children.

The UNICEF focal point officer noted that the mission of controlling out-of-school rates and ensuring quality education can be achieved “if good teachers can deliver effectively and if community involvement is active. In the end, we would have better learners who meet the required standards.”

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