Girls’ Enrollment in Bauchi Hits 1.1m under UNICEF GEP3, Says Icunoamlak

By Segun Awofadeji

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has said that under the girls education programme, phase three, the enrollment of girls in school in Bauchi State has increased to 1,130,465 in 2020.

UNICEF said it is believed that at the end of 2020, the Girls Education Programme (GEP 3) has succeeded in getting approximately 214,758 additional girls into schools in Bauchi State.

The Officer in Charge (OIC) of UNICEF Nigeria, Bauchi Field Office, Dr. Zigeh Icunoamlak disclosed this recently at a one-day high-level advocacy/ endorsement meeting with stakeholders and the Emirate Councils on the establishment of local accountability systems for the sustainability of GEP 3 in Bauchi State.

He said with the development, they are currently participating in the G4G/He for She activities across six LGAs, and being empowered to use their platforms to enhance peer support and create demand for education in their various communities.

According to him, “11,520 teachers and IQS facilitators have core knowledge and competencies to use proven teaching methodologies to deliver appropriate quality education through GEP 3 while 11,270 (1,727 females) principals, headteachers have enhanced capacity on school record keeping and have provided valid school data through which eight annual school census has been conducted, disseminated and published from 2012 to 2020.”

“12 focus LGAs have developed local education sector operational plan to align with the state education sector plan while improved planning at the LGEA level is expected to contribute to achieving equitable distribution of resources based on evidence”

“1,040 SBMCs and CBMCs have been trained on their roles and responsibilities and they developed school improvement of 11,018 (3,258 females), members improved skills on teamwork, community mobilisation and how to prioritise the interest of the girl-child in schools.”

Icunoamlak explained that based on the identified barriers and bottlenecks to girls’ education, GEP3 Theory of Change, and interventions were planned to reduce these barriers and to deliver results under three outputs; increased enrolment and retention for girls in basic education, improved capacity of teachers to deliver effective learning for girls and improved governance to strengthen girls’ education.

The UNICEF Nigeria OIC said with the project coming to an end on 30 June 2021, it has become imperative to identify the lessons learnt and good practices from the GEP3 to ensure the gains are not lost.

In his remarks, the Emir of Bauchi, Dr. Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu commended UNICEF and other partners for always supporting the state in the area of health care and education development and growth, saying that girl-child education is very important to the development of the society as a well-educated girl child is a pride to the society.

The emir expressed optimism that the GEP3 programme will change the narrative of girl-child education in the state, while assuring that the traditional institutions in the state are ever ready to support any programme that brings positive impact on the lives of people and bridge the educational gap.