Jutha Gupah, Maiduguri
February 8, 2023.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that over a decade conflict has denied 1.9 million children access to basic quality education in the Northeast.
According to the UN Agency, about 56% of displaced children are already out of school in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
The UNICEF Chief of Maiduguri Field Office, Phuong Nguyen, disclosed this yesterday (Wednesday), in Maiduguri, at a media dialogue to amplify the achievements of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) funding project.
“We’re providing critical support to help communities and the education system withstand the impact of the crisis,” she said, noting that the support of the children was to realize their right to education.
She said the challenges of out of school children and the learning crisis remain issues UNICEF and stakeholders to address.
She added that every child has the opportunity that education confers with the equipped skills to survive and contribute positively to the society.
While overcoming the challenges, Nguyen disclosed that one major accomplishment is the teachers’ training programme of GPE accelerated funding project in the three States.
According to her, the teachers’ training is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education, National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) and the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).
Besides the initiative, the training programme has supported over 18, 000 unqualified teachers working in three states to “study and pass” the TRCN’s qualifying examination to teach.
“The teachers were inducted and licensed in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states,” she said, disclosing that the 12-month course was funded by GPE accelerated funding and supported by UNICEF.
Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) also supported training of the unqualified teachers.
“This is the first training of its kind targeting a large cohort of teachers in the country,” she said.
She stated that no less than one million girls and boys will benefit, as the newly certified teachers return to their classrooms equipped with modern and effective teaching methods.
Other aspects of the GPE funding project, was also to improve access to education, including the renovation of classrooms in 50 schools in the insurgency affected region.
“The GPE accelerated funding project comprises the construction of 50 temporary learning spaces,” she said, adding that over 800, 000 children have been provided with learning materials.
Continued; “The capacity of 438 education officials were also strengthened on education in emergency leadership and result-based planning and budgeting.
The TRCN Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Lawrence Ugo said that 18, 367 unqualified teachers were trained by the teachers’ registration council.
In a breakdown of the qualified teachers to practice, he said that 2, 337 teachers from Borno state qualified to practice in any part of the country, while Adamawa and Yobe states respectively have 5, 887 and 3, 816 teachers.
