FRANK IKPEFAN reports that kids hitherto out of school are having a new lease of life. Thanks to the Girls for Girls initiative started by the United Nation’s Children Fund in 2017.
When Aisha Aminu, a teenager, lost her father at three years old, it looked as if her world had crashed.
It was almost as if her schooling had hit a rock. It was expected that Aminu would join the hundreds of thousands of out-of-school girls roaming Katsina State.
Surprisingly, she did not. Presently, at Kofar Kudu Conventional Primary School, the teenage girl has found a new lease of life.
“I have been trained on how to make cream and soap through an initiative, the G4G. I use the money I make from the sale of the products to assist her mother to buy things at home. And I also raise money for my schooling,” she told our correspondent with a grin.
“Many parents would have forced their girls into early marriage; but now, they are repenting,” Maryam Isa, a middle-aged teacher at Model Primary School, Rimi, began the story of the steady population increase in her school in Katsina State.
“Because of G4G, some of the girls are back to school. Even some parents who want to force them to marry; we have been able to convince them to enroll them in school.”
G4G is the acronym for Girls for Girls initiative started by the United Nation’s Children Fund in 2017 in five states of the country – an initiative which is one of the components of the Girls Education Programme (GEP3).
The programme was initiated for target communities in Bauchi, Niger, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara states, to help support girls to remain in school and improve their learning achievement.
According to the United Nation’s agency, one of the targets of the project was to help increase access to education, boost enrollment and retention of school – aged children as well as facilitate their transition to higher classes.
The G4G initiative, which has been applied from 2017 to 2020, has become a game-changer in decades of efforts to improve girls’ enrolment and vocational skills.
The G4G initiative was aimed at improving girls’ retention in schools and empowering them with leadership and life skills to become a voice for girls’ education in northern Nigeria – a region plagued by child marriage.
UNICEF’s Gender Desk Officer in Katsina State and Focal Person for the project, Mrs. Hauwa Kaikai, told our reporter in an interview project was applied in 292 schools in nine GEP3 LGAs.
She said: “G4G is an intervention under girls education programme (GEP3). It started in 2017 and it is aimed at increasing access of children to school; that is access, retention and transition.
“The programme started with three local governments in one hundred schools and later it was expanded to 292 schools in nine GEP3 LGAs. We targeted 292 schools from the beginning up till now.
“Under G4G itself, there are some strands; four or five. There is He4She. We selected He4She boys to support the G4G girls and there is the Reading Hub targeted at G4G schools.
“In Katsina more than 10,000 girls, who have received series of training on leadership and life skills both at the cluster, state and national level. They have been participating in the international day of the girl child.”
She said UNICEF recently trained education managers, including local government education secretaries, commissioner of education, DPRS SUBEB, and social mobilisation officers at the local government to include the G4G leadership and life skills in school curriculum so that schools would adopt the process and proceed with the project.
Twelve-year-old Bilikisu Abdullahi, who is in primary six at the Abukur Model Primary School, Rimi, confirmed that she had been empowered by the project and made money to sustain her education.
She said: “Through G4G empowerment I learnt how to knit. After school I take my knitting pin and cotton wool and start knitting. I learnt it through a friend.
“I sell the products for kids in the community for N10 to N20. I use the money to buy school boobs and other minor things that I need for my studies.”
The project, which was supported by the Federal Government through the Advocacy and Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of Information as well as the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and UKAID ended this year.
It targeted 90 per cent schools located in rural communities with 10 per cent in semi-urban centres in the target states.
Katsina out-of-school figures drop
Before UNICEF commenced the implementation of the G4G project in Katsina, the state had 536,122 out-of-school children, going by the National Personnel Audit (NPA) Report conducted by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in 2018.
Of this figure, the state had 267,132 girls that were not in school while of the 91, 577 girls enrolled in primary school, 11,031 were dropping out before completing primary school.
“Between 2017 till now we have 20, 990 G4G girls. Many out – of – children have come back to school, both boys and girls. The goal of G4G is to return girls that were out – of – school back to the classrooms and increase access.
“The programme also empowered them with life learning skills; how to become self – reliant while learning at the same time.
“We found out that there was increase of access of girls with over 92 per cent in schools,” Mrs. Kaikai said.
UNICEF’s Education Specialist, Azuka Menkiti, said the organisation did community mapping to find out why children, particularly girls were not going to school.
She said the UN agency discovered that even when they are enrolled in schools, when they get to primary four, there is a drop in attendance.
“In the month following the inception of this programme, a lot of positive changes have been seen in the girls who now aspire to become great women in future. The G4G is to create a platform for empowering girls with knowledge, skills and confidence to exercise the right to enroll and remain in school,” the education specialist said.
Drop out decreases
According to a Rapid Assessment report by UNICEF, girls’ retention rate to Junior Secondary School three increased from 89.2 per cent to 91.8 per cent over the years.
Also, girls’ dropout rate at JSS3 has decreased from 10.8 per cent to 8.2 per cent.
The report showed that girls transition rate from JSS one has increased from 32.6 per cent to 62.9 per cent over the years.
“Evidences showed that G4G has convinced all stakeholders, including parents, community members, girls mentors, head teacher to send their girls to school thereby increasing girls’ enrollments.
“It has also encouraged the girls to attend school, stay in school to complete and transit to higher level.
“It has broadened the girls’ horizons about and aroused their interest tremendously in education,” the report added.
According to the report, G4G has positively impacted on girls, their families and their communities that it should be sustained and improved upon in the GEP3 LGAs.
Allow your girls to finish secondary school before marriage, UBEC chief begs parents
In January this year, the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi appealed to parents to allow their girls complete their secondary education before marrying them off.
Dr. Bobboyi said girl-child education was vital to the development of any country.
According to a statement by the Head, Public Relations and Protocols of the commission, Mr David Apeh, Bobboyi spoke at the inauguration of a Girl – Child Community Center in Gafia Village, Kaita Local Government Area of Katsina State.
“Without education of the girl-child, we cannot change our society. We should allow them to finish their secondary school education before marrying them up,” the executive secretary said in the statement.
While saying he was not against marriage, he advised that parents should allow their girls to continue the search for knowledge even after marriage.
He said the commission was happy with the Kastina State Government for its numerous policies of promoting basic education especially for the girl-child.
Dr Bobboyi said the problem of out-of-school children can be solved because the bulk of the kids are coming from the north.
According to the executive secretary, about 45 per cent of students in junior secondary school two drop out of school.
“In Nigeria, we can solve the problem of out-of-school children (OSC) because the bulk of all these children are coming from one region, the northern states; 75% of OSC is from the north, there are some states in the south with OSC too and so every region in this country must be prepared to address this challenge,” he added.
