Harnessing Nigeria’s Potential Through Girl Child Education – NewGlobe

As global attention intensifies on the critical issue of girl child education, NewGlobe participated in the International Conference on Girl Child Education hosted by the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).

The summit, brought together key stakeholders from across Nigeria and the international community for two days to address the challenges and opportunities surrounding girl child education.

United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) data revealed that about 20 million Nigerians which is 60 percent out of school children are girls, having over 10 million of them from the Northern Part of the country.

According to UNICEF,7.6 million girls are out of school (OOS) in Nigeria; 3.9 million at the primary and 3.7 million at the junior secondary level.

More than 50% of girls are not attending school at the basic education level, 48% of OOS girls are in the North-west and North-east.

In each cohort, 1 million girls drop out between the first and last year of primary school and 0.6 million between primary 6 and junior secondary school.

At least 1 in 4 girls are forced into early marriage and even more in the Northwest (39%).

In Nigeria, the education of girls remains a critical issue.

The International Conference on Girl Child Education served as a platform to focus on innovative strategies and partnerships that can close the gender gap in education.

NewGlobe, recognized for its transformative education programs, was a prominent contributor to this important dialogue.

NewGlobe, an education expert and a global leader in learning, has over the years deployed globally acclaimed solutions that transform the landscape of basic education all over the world including Nigeria.

NewGlobe’s holistic methodology which incorporates learning technology platforms, ensures literacy and numeracy are achieved at the child’s level of learning, not just at grade level, this has been a game changer for children irrespective of gender, social and economic backgrounds delivering improvement in learning impact across board.

Partnering with visionary government leaders, NewGlobe’s methodology is currently utilized in Lagos EKOEXCEL), Edo (EdoBEST), Kwara (KwaraLEARN) and Bayelsa (BayelsaPRIME) States.

An extensive 2-year study of the methodology by Harvard professor and 2019 Noble prize winner Prof. Michael Kremer found that even children living in rural communities receive 54 percent more learning in school, meaning primary students in NewGlobe partner programs are nearly a whole additional year of learning ahead of students in other schools taught using ordinary methods irrespective of gender social or economic backgrounds.

Speaking at the summit, NewGlobe Nigeria Group Managing Director, Dr. Soji Akinyele commended the organizers of the event, emphasizing the critically pivotal role the International Conference on Girl Child Education can play at this water shed moment in Nigeria.

Specifically, he charged participants, education decision makers to explore viable and scalable models of foundational learning and basic education in general to ensure that every girl child in Nigeria has access to quality education.

Akinyele said, “Together, through innovative localized solutions and the determination of leadership, we can unlock the potential of every Nigerian girl, and in doing so, unlock the potential of our dear country, Nigeria.”

The time for action is now upon us, the NGF has started kicked this off with the launch of the Girl Child Education Volunteers’ Advocates (GICEVA) initiative, a platform designed to engage volunteers in advocating for girl child education across Nigeria and unveiling of Girl Child Ambassadors, who will represent the commitment to girl child education among corp members (NYSC) in Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

However more needs to be done from a policy adoption and execution stand point, we must begin to implement successful local solutions across the whole country, all girls everywhere in Nigeria not only in Edo, Lagos, Kwara and Bayelsa must have the opportunity to achieve the best education for the benefit of Nigeria’s growth and development.