The Community Led Collective Action for Girls’ Education (C-CAGE) says, an urgent intervention is needed in schools in the northeast for the provision of water, hygiene and toilet facilities in order to mitigate the girl-child’s chances of dropping out of school.
The group says there are chances that over 20million girls might drop out of school due to the impact of Covid-19, hence all stakeholders need to work together to address the social, cultural and systemic factors inhibiting the girl-child’s access to education in the north east, Nigeria.
The group says, it has worked with relevant bodies to train 275 education stakeholders, and that it has created 16 safe spaces for girls in Adamawa which has led to about 960 enrollments of girls to school, saying these safe spaces have made it possible for about 606 in-school and out-of-school girls to be engaged in peer learning and experience sharing.
This was made known in a press statement by the groups, Senior Programme Manager, Lawal Amodu, yesterday in Yola, Adamawa State.
While addressing newsmen, Amodu said, “In Nigeria, limited access to water, sanitation and hygiene is a major barrier preventing girls from learning.
“Schools lack washrooms and poor conditions force girls to leave school grounds to attend to their sanitary needs, thereby increasing the likelihood of them being dropouts.
“To effectively address the out of school girl challenge, Centre LSD has advocated to key stakeholders in the education sector, held town-hall meetings with key gatekeepers and media engagements, build capacity of selected education stakeholders and established safe spaces for in-school and out-of-school girls for the purpose of peer learning and experience sharing between and amongst the girls.”
He added that, “Beyond this, Centre LSD has engaged and trained 275 key education stakeholders comprising traditional/religious leaders, PTA and SBMC in selected communities of the three focal local government areas (LGAs) of Maiha, Numan and Song.
“The beneficiaries of this training have taken the knowledge received further by stepping down the training to other members of the community. For us, this has further deepened the awareness on the need for girl-child education in the areas.
“Today, we can confidently report that these engagements have resulted in the enrolment of 960 girls to school in some communities in the LGAs.
“Also, a total of 16 safe spaces have been established with 606 in-school and out-of-school girls peer learning and sharing experiences and skills from one another twice in a month.
“The results of these activities led to an upsurge in the number of enrolment of girls who dropped out previously due to factors relating to poverty, cultural norms and insecurity.”
Speaking on the group’s progress, Amodu said, “At the inception of the project, the precarious situation of out-of-school children in Adamawa State indicated that the state accounted for 51 percent of the 60 percent out-of-school children in the North-East.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women and girls.
“Malala Fund’s latest research estimates that 20million more secondary school-aged girls could be out-of-school after the Covid-19 crisis has abated. The implication of this will be enormous for our society.
“The current schools safety realities as there relate to the Covid-19 regulations require an urgent intervention as clean water, toilets and hygiene which are essential components of the regulations are grossly lacking.”
The group while commending the Governor Ahmadu Fintiri-led Adamawa State Government for its free education policy, drew the government’s attention to some hidden charges exerted upon students and its inconsistent implementation in rural and urban areas, where school fees are still exerted in the former.
Amodu said, “While we commend the state government for its commitment to free education in the state and its effort at removing financial burden of examination fees off the students, particularly those writing their Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE), government must continue to monitor and ensure the full implementation of the free education programme across the state.
“The reality of free education seems to be effective in the state capitals while the same cannot be said of the rural areas where it is needed most.
“Another major challenge identified relates to the burden of hidden charges levied on students in various schools in the focal communities by the principals in conjunction with the schools’ PTA.
“These levies are not only problematic to some of the parents and guardians but also have the capacity to de-motivate in-school students from continuing their education while also discouraging potential returnee out-of-school girls from enrolment.
“Meanwhile, this is happening in the face of the free basic education for all enshrined in the UBE Act 2004 and taken forward by the Government of Adamawa State.
“Such charges have the capacity to de-motivate children who are willing to go to school but cannot afford the levies.”
The project is being implemented in the three Senatorial Districts of Adamawa State with three focal local government areas of Numan in the South, Song at the Central and Maiha in the North.