OrderPaperToday– The government of Sokoto State in collaboration with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has begun training 830 female teachers in a pioneer scheme, aimed at providing role models for female students, especially in the state’s rural communities.
Tagged ‘Female Train The Trainee’, the scheme is being executed under UNICEF’s Girls Education Project (GEP3). It’s main aim is to train female teachers from rural areas who would in turn go back to their communities and teach.
A consultant overseeing the implementation of the project, Maryam Usman Na’ibi said GEP3 also aims to get out- of- school rural children back to school without further delay.
Na’ibi gave this insight when she led a team on a sensitisation visit to the first lady of Sokoto State, Mrs Mariya Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.
She said: “We have discovered that among the reasons behind girls dropping out of school children are poverty, religious misconception, ignorance, cultural beliefs and insecurity. Parents are afraid of sending their girl children to school because of fear that they may be molested by male teachers.
“So in order to reassure communities holding such misconceptions, we decided to train female teachers from among themselves who will in turn take the lead in teaching children from their localities,” she added.
According to Na’ibi, as an added incentive, the Sokoto State government and UNICEF introduced a cash transfer programme where participating mothers or caregivers receive a monthly stipend of N5000, for sending a girl child to school to assist them purchase school supplies.
She said in addition to the monthly stipend, the trainee female teachers get funds to facilitate their education with the hopes of getting them absorbed into the state civil service as teachers in their localities at the end of their studies.
Na’ibi also stated that so far, the GEP3 is being implemented in six local government areas- Binji, Bodinga, Gudu, Goronyo, Kebbe and Wurno.
While the state government sponsors 600 of the female teachers, UNICEF takes care of 230 for the FTTSS programmes.
In her remarks, Mrs. Tambuwal commended UNICEF and the state government for their concern for girl-child education in the state.
She promised to support the project and forward their complaints to state government for further action.
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