The UNICEF and Jigawa State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has officially begun the train-the-trainers project for School Based Management Committees (SBMCs) and Community-Based Management Committees (CBMCs).
The UNICEF Focal Point Officer at SUBEB in Dutse, Hajiya Umma Abdulkadir, said at the opening that 2,820 teachers from 470 schools were targeted for the training in addition to CBMCs members.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the project was initiated by the EU as an intervention toward tackling out-of-school children-related issues in Nigeria.
Abdulkadir said that the objective of the project, which was sponsored by EU, through UNICEF, was to propel service delivery in the learning environment through the engagement of teachers and members of the community from primary to secondary levels.
She said that their aim was to curtail the menace of out-of-school syndrome and effectively improve the quality of education and support the learner’s desire to achieve better academic performance.
“We expect the standard of education in the state to improve significantly, if the programme is implemented to its logical conclusion in the state as planned,” she said.
According to her, the project is packaged in form of an intervention grant by the EU in the North-West states of Jigawa, Kano and Sokoto.
Abdulkadir, however, said that the pilot project was limited to 10 of the 27 Local Government Areas in Jigawa for a start.
“These SBMCs are based in schools, either primary, junior or senior secondary schools.
Also, the CBMCs are drawn from community schools, such as Islamiya School or Tsangaya School that has learners,” Abdulkadir said.
She also said that by engaging the CBMCs and SBMCs, the education authorities in the state would be able to have 100 per cent coverage of all the schools, thereby mentoring and monitoring school activities for improved academic performance.
She said that the engagement of CBMCs for each centre became necessary since the Tsangaya are not formal schools as such they needed to be monitored and controlled.
“The UNICEF wanted to be on board so that the community will be encouraged to do what is expected of them.
“Their (community) wider coverage about their role and responsibilities, which include the issue of attendance, retention and completion because we want a child or a learner in Jigawa that is receiving a kind of programme (educational) to have a starting and finishing point.
“That is the issue of enrollment, attendance and retention, that is staying in the programme (educational system) until completion.
“If it is Tsangaya, we want a child to stay until he completes the Qur’anic learning.
“If it is Islamiya, we want him to complete from primary one to five, proceeding to junior secondary school and so on,” the UNICEF officer said.
Abdulkadir also said that a similar programme, which they called “Learners Unit Record Information and Tracking System,” was taking place concurrently at the Manpower Development Institute alongside the SBMCs and CBMCs.
“This particular programme is designed to track learners’ performance, attendance, retention and completion through attendance register,” she said.
She further said that through the tracking system, the education authorities would be able to address problems associated with out-of-school children and effectively improve the quality of education in the state.
“Our target is that after the five days training, the 470 participants are to go back to their respective areas to train 2,820 others on the techniques and strategies, using the newly Revised National Operational Manual as well as the Guidelines for Mentoring and Monitoring Systems.
“This is the wish and target plans by EU and UNICEF,” Abdulkadir said. (NAN). READ ALSO:
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