By Gbenga Akingbule
The United Nations Children Education Fund, (UNICEF ) on Monday said that 102,859 children have so far been provided with access to inclusive, equitable and quality education in Borno State in the last 3 years.
Gatekeepers News reports that another set of 29,985 out-of-school youths and adolescents were supported by UNICEF with vocational skills, including poultry farming, shoemaking, soap and bag production, tailoring, painting, and interlock tiles production.
The interventions gave special attention to the girl child and females as 51% of girls and 55% of females respectively benefited from the project.
According to UNICEF, the project- EduTrac System and the Mainstreaming of Psychosocial Support into Formal Education in Borno State which will wrap up by the end of the month is supported by the European Union Support to Response, Recovery and Resilience and ensures that vulnerable children in the state have equal opportunity to quality education, and to be the best version of themselves.
This was disclosed by UNICEF Education Manager, Maiduguri Field Office, Paola Ripamonti during a Press Conference in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital where other partners were commended for their roles in the implementation of the project.
Ripamonti said the interventions are landmarks to improve educational planning, expand access to education for conflict-affected children and strengthen learning outcomes while also improving their mental health.
UNICEF Education Manager, Maiduguri Field Office, Paola Ripamonti while delivering her speech at the press conference.
According to her, “The interventions supported over 300,000 children and youths (52% females). Among them are 20,104 (53% girls) out-of-school children who now access informal learning classes and 16,630 children (52% girls) who transitioned into the formal education system; and over 29,000 youths (55% females) gained employable skills through vocational training.
She added: “Additionally, 750 members of School-based Management Committees (44% females) have improved school management skills; 1,630 teachers and Community Volunteer Teachers (49% females) strengthened skills on various themes such as psycho-social support, gender-sensitive pedagogy and effective classroom management. ”
However, there was a general consensus among implementing partners who expressed concern over ending the 10 Million euros interventions by the end of the month, calling on UNICEF and particularly the European Union to consider the continuation of the project.
“Much as we commended the UNICEF and the European Union for the project, it’s important to note that there are still many other areas begging for such interventions in Borno State, particularly the northern part of the state that is worse affected by the ongoing insurgency,” one of the implementing partners and representative of the State Universal Basic Education Board ( SUBEB) Alhaji Ali Dogo said.
