Mr Ian Attfield, the Senior Education Adviser at the British High Commission in Nigeria, is among stakeholders that assessed the impact of a £16m grant education initiative targeting conflict affected children in Borno and Yobe states.
The initiative being implemented by UNICEF is for children aged between six to 17 years under the Partnership for Learning for All Nigeria – Education in Emergency Programme (PLANE-EIE) funded by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Education Cannot Wait.
Speaking after an assessment visit at one of the benefitting primary schools in Maiduguri, Attfield lauded the initiative aimed at improving children learning using the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach.
Attfield reiterated British Government commitment to continue to support Nigeria, particularly in area of education for positive developments.
“No country will develop without developing its human capital; that is the young people,” Attfield said.
In his remarks, an Education Officer with UNICEF Maiduguri Office, Mr Mustapha Shehu, said the four-year programme ending this year is targeting 270,500 children made up of 55 per cent girls and 45 per cent boys.
Shehu said others targeted by the programme included 7,200 educators and facilitators as well as 1,035 government officials and 2,235 School and Centre-based Management Committee Members.
“This initiative underscores a comprehensive approach to addressing the educational challenges posed by conflict, specifically emphasizing inclusivity and quality learning for vulnerable children, ” Shehu said.
In their remarks, the Head Teacher of a benefitting school, Mr Ngari Bukar, and Mr Franklin Onyia of TaRL Africa, who spoke on the impact of the intervention, said pupils were able to pick up fast.
They said that the TaRL methodology of teaching adopted made learning easier and interested to pupils had increased enrolment and contributed immensely to education sector recovery in conflict- affected areas.
