- The European Union-funded consortium, and other bodies set to return 324,000 out-of-school children in Kano, Jigawa, and Sokoto through Accelerated Basic Education Program (ABEP)
- Out of the 324,000, 60,000 children will receive vocational training to provide alternative pathways for those not interested in secondary or tertiary education
- The project is said to target underserved communities, nomadic children, and children with disabilities
Over 300,000 out-of-school children across the North West states of Kano, Jigawa, and Sokoto will be returned to school through the support of the European Union-funded consortium led by Plan International Nigeria (PI), Save the Children International (SCI), and the Dispute Resolution and Development Initiative (DRDI).
Tobi Ransomed, the EU Consortium Lead and Education Advisor for Plan International Nigeria, revealed this at the project's startup workshop held in Kano on Wednesday, September 25.
Over 300,000 out-of-school children in Kano, others to benefit
This initiative was set to be carried out through the Accelerated Basic Education Program (ABEP), a non-formal education system designed by the consortium.
“Plan International Nigeria, Save the Children International (SCI), and local co-applicants, Dispute Resolution and Development Initiative (DRDI) and Save the Child Initiative (STCI) are implementing the Accelerating Basic Education and Livelihood Opportunities for Children and Youth in North Western Nigeria through a consortium. Funded by the European Union, EU, the three-year project (July 2024-June 2027) will be implemented in Jigawa, Kano, and Sokoto States of Northwest Nigeria,” Ransomed stated.
She added, “We are looking at a total of 12 LGAs. Kano has the highest with five LGAs while Sokoto and Jigawa have four and three respectively. We selected the LGAs with high numbers of our of school children and underserved communities. Similarly, over 10 per cent of the target is nomads and also children with disabilities.
60,000 children to receive vocational skills training
“We are targeting 324,000 young boys and girls for ABEP alone for teaching and learning, non-formal.”
Out of the 324,000 children, we will select 60,000 to support with vocational skills, as some may prefer to pursue skills training rather than continuing to secondary or tertiary education.
She further said, “According to UNESCO in 2022, Nigeria has approximately 20 million out-of-school children and youth (OOSCY), with the North-West region contributing 3.49 million. The region is faced with high poverty levels, forcing many children into economic activities rather than schooling, frequent attacks on schools and kidnappings, gender discrimination and early marriages of the girl child; poorly resourced schools, teacher shortages, and hidden costs associated with education, among others.
Project targets out-of-school children aged 10 to 18
“This project aims to support education and youth empowerment by providing youth, in particular girls in rural underserved and nomadic communities, with access to inclusive gender transformative and conflict-sensitive equitable quality education and skill development by providing increased access to vocational training, including training for green jobs, and developing critical skills for women, girls, youths and nomads in the three States. We are doing these through the vehicle of the Accelerated Basic Education Programme, ABEP, a non-formal form of education and usually for children and youths that have been out of school for a while. We are looking at children between 10 years old and 18 years old,” Ransomed added.
We have returned 4 million out-of-school children to the classroom, Education Minister Mamman says
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that Professor Tahir Mamman, the Minister of Education, disclosed that the FG had returned four million out-of-school children to their classrooms.
He further said the level of collaboration between tertiary institutions and universities was insufficient.