The Federal Ministry of Education, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom, and UNICEF implemented the Girls’ Education Programme Phase 3 (GEP3) between 2012 and 2022 in six northern Nigerian states: Katsina, Kano, Niger, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Bauchi.
The partners reported that the $109 million investment in GEP3 yielded positive results in enrolling an additional 1.5 million girls in school, far exceeding the project’s target, at the national closing ceremony held in Abuja on November 24, 2022.
Growth in girls’ education
Girls’ primary school attendance increased from 43% to 70% in the six states, while gender parity increased from 0.73 to 0.97.
GEP3 worked to improve the quality of education for all children while also assisting girls in gaining better access to education and economic opportunities, thereby breaking the cycle of poverty and disadvantage.
“In our commitment to drastically reduce the number of Out of School Children, Nigeria appreciates the scaling of evidence-based solution in tackling this menace as provided through the GEP3. As we continue on this path, we would leverage on the success of GEP3 to plan better, budget better, and make better decisions in putting more Girl- Child in school,” said Honourable Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu.
“GEP3 has not only been successful in getting more girls into formal and non-formal schools, but it has also improved learning outcomes. GEP3 has raised the profile of educated girls, created new positive social norms in many communities and enabled a transformational shift in mindsets about the importance of girls’ education. It is critical that we advocate scaling of the approach in all states,” said Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria.
“I express the deep appreciation of UNICEF to the UK Government for this long-term commitment and funding for girls’ access to primary school in northern Nigeria. Together there remains much work to be done, to ensure that girls transition to, and complete secondary education. This is important not only for the economic prosperity and wellbeing of the girl and her family, but to stem the high population growth expected in Nigeria. We see FCDO and the government of Nigeria as steadfast partners in this complex endeavour,” added Munduate.
Along with achieving its enrollment goals above expectations, GEP3’s innovations, policies, and best practises are enhancing Nigeria’s educational system.
As part of its GEP3 initiative, schools’ management and the provision of effective learning for girls have both seen capacity-building among head teachers and teachers.
GEP3’s unconditional cash transfer programme assisted over 23,500 girls and reduced household poverty, allowing families to send girls to school and enhancing women’s ability to generate additional domestic income.
In addition, community-based structures such as Mothers’ Associations, School-Based Management Committees, and High-level Women Advocates have been established as long-term platforms for community mobilisation, mentorship, and policy advocacy on girls’ education.
The programme also helped to strengthen non-formal Qur’anic schools by incorporating foundational literacy and numeracy. The Reading And Numeracy Activity was used as an early literacy and numeracy intervention to improve learning levels (RANA). RANA was created to improve literacy and numeracy instruction in grades 1-3 in over 3,800 public and Islamic schools. RANA created Hausa-language teaching and learning materials, increased teacher capacity, mobilised communities, and collaborated with local governments to improve early-grade reading policies.
Over 67,000 primary school teachers, including those teaching in Integrated Qur’anic schools, were trained as part of the GEP 3 programme to improve their skills and ability to deliver quality education.
“The GEP 3 has been one of the UK’s largest bilateral Girls’ Education programmes globally. We have seen good progress in improving access for girls and moving towards gender parity but with an increasing population, Nigeria’s out of school children figures remain high, for girls and boys. We now need to ensure that we build on the successful interventions of GEP 3, supporting them to be scaled-up and sustained to ensure they are catalysts for change in the wider sector,” said Catriona Laing, British High Commissioner to Nigeria.
