Actionaid spends N600m annually on education in Nigeria

Actionaid Nigeria, an international non governmental organisation (NGO),  spends N600 million ($3m) annually on educational projects in the country, Andrew Mamedu, the Education Programme Manager of the NGO, said in an interview on Tuesday in Abuja.

 

He said that through such projects, it had contributed to the development of not less than 760,000 children in the northern part of the country through the girl-child education programme.

Mamedu said that the project had involved the sensitisation of the girl-child on proper sanitation in schools and best personal hygiene practices to keep them healthy and confident.

He said that the project had also advocated that sanitary facilities should be constructed in schools by the local authorities to alleviate the sufferings of the girl-child and improve the quality of their education.

“From our last year report, we have impacted on over 760,000 children and we wish to do more and deepen its impact on girls.

“We are working on the girl-child education in Northern Nigeria where we try to encourage the improvement of the sanitation in their schools.

“This is, in addition, to improving the quality of education for all students in primary and junior secondary schools.

“We are working in communities that are hard to reach by setting up school structures and in some cases, scout for teachers for them,’’ the programme manager said.

He said that the NGO’s success was facilitated by the use of mothers’ associations in such communities and the establishment of girls’ clubs in schools.

Mamedu said that the girls’ clubs had helped to strengthen the administration of education, attract and encourage the girls to go to schools.

He said that the programme cut across basic and secondary schools in local communities in states like : Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Nasarawa and Plateau, among others.

The programme manager said that promoting the girl-child education in the region was paramount to Actionaid.

This is because the orientation in the region restricts their female children from wholesale assimilation of Western education, he said.

Mamedu said that the organisation was collaborating with the Schools Basic Management Committees (SBMCs) to ensure the existence of a right learning environment by holding the government accountable to their responsibilities.

He said that members of the communities, teachers, parents and students were also being sensitised on developing a sense of ownership of the facilities.

The organisation’s programme manager said that developing such a sense of ownership would ensure sustainability and encourage local independence.

(NAN)