UNICEF Chief of office, Bauchi, Dr Tushar Rane in a group photograph with members of the GEP3 enrolees and other stakeholders during the closure ceremony
By Akanji Alowolodu, Bauchi
After 10 years of its implementation which resulted in the enrolment of more girls in primary and junior secondary schools in selected Northern states, the Girl 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 in Bauchi, he said that the project has indeed achieved the set objectives of its introduction.
The Girls’ Education Project 3 started in 2022 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).”
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”.
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 Nigeria states with a 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 enrol 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.
According to him, “On literacy, the partnership saw an overall improvement in the six states from 22.6 to 37per cent. The rate of early marriage (under the age of 19) in the 6 targeted states has decreased from 49.3 to 30.1%, thanks to the partnership with High-level Women Advocates, and other partners who have contributed to this”.
Rane said that, “Overall, in terms of learners’ attendance in primary, there has been a great improvement from 43% at the start of the project to 70% at the time of the closure.
“In additions to these positive trends, there are other key structural achievements including education systems strengthening in terms of the creation of School-based Management Committees (SBMCs), Centre-based Management Committees’ and Mothers’ Groups which are critical in the provision of strong and shared leadership with school management”, he further said.
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.
He however said that despite these considerable achievements of the project, there is still a huge need to invest more in education and girls’ education in Nigeria, particularly in Bauchi State and the North-East of Nigeria to ensure that all children have an equal opportunity to quality education.
Bauchi has an increased in transition rate to junior secondary: that is 113.3% which means that we need to work hard and put additional innovative efforts to remove the barriers, the bottlenecks and the challenges that prevent the positive transition of girls to secondary schools sustain the transition, retention, and completion.
“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.
The UNICEF Chief of Office concluded saying, I would also like to appreciate the roles played by Ministries of Education of the 6 participating states, the States’ Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs), the Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs), and the partnership with community structures, community groups including women “champions”, traditional and community leaders, for achieving these commendable results for girls’ education in Nigeria”.
In his remarks, Bauchi State Commissioner of Education, Dr Aliyu Usman Tilde commended UNICEF for the full implementation of the GEP3 project which he said had significant positive impact on the education sector of the state.
The Commissioner expressed happiness with the successes recorded which led to increase in the number of girls that were enrolled into the school system in the state as well as the IQS which he said was very significant.
Tilde then assured that the state government will carefully study the documents of the project as see to how it can be sustained in order to keep the tempo.
