By Ladi Josh
United Nations Children Fund(UNICEF) has disclosed that a total of one million pupils will benefit from improved teaching and modern learning facilities in the North East region.
According to the UNICEF Chief of Maiduguri Field Office Phuong Nguyen stated this at a media dialogue on achievements of Global Partnership for Education Accelerated Funding project in Maiduguri.
The UNICEF Chief said the effort is to address the large number of out of school children, high drop out and facilitate retention of children in schools.
She noted that over 18 thousand unqualified teachers have been trained by National Teachers’ Institute and passed through the Teachers’ Registration Council qualifying examination to improve the education in the three states most ravaged in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe respectively.
She said, “The challenges of out-of-school children and the learning crisis in the education sector remain issues that UNICEF and other stakeholders are working to ensure that every child has the opportunity that education confers and be equipped with skills to survive and contribute positively to the society,” Nguyen said.
She said disclosing that the 12-month course was funded by GPE accelerated funding and supported by UNICEF. Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) also supported training of the unqualified teachers.
“The teachers were inducted and licensed in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
This is the first training of its kind targeting a large cohort of teachers in the country,” she said
The Executive Chairman Borno State Universal Basic Education Board Professor Bulama Kagu acknowledged that Accelerated Funding Programme has contributed in the improvement of education sector in the state.
He enumerated some projects the benefitted to include learning materials, renovation of classrooms construction of temporary learning spaces and training for teachers on teaching at the right level.
The Global Partnership for Education Accelerated Funding project is an initiative of the Federal government through ministry of education, National Teachers’s Institute and Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria.
