The Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Director, Yasmine Sherif has said that $119 million (about N45.22 billion), is donated to transform and deliver education to children in armed conflict in the Northeast. According to him, the educational support in emergencies, is an investment grant that will meet the needs of over 2.9 million children and youths in the sub-region. “This is a global fund aimed at transforming the delivery of education in emergencies and protracted crisis,” he said, adding that it will accelerate educational support in response to the protracted armed conflict and ongoing humanitarian needs in Northeast. On Boko Haram incessant attacks, kidnappings and banditry, he said: “The north part of the country, has left more than a million children out of school.” While announcing the educational support grants Friday in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, he noted that the initial programme which will cost US$20.1 million (about N8billion) will run for three years. He added that the goal was to leverage an additional US$98.7 million (about N38billion) in co-financing from national and global partners. According to him, other global partners include the private sector and philanthropic foundations. He said ECW has been supporting the education in emergencies response in Nigeria since 2018 through the First Emergency Response (FER) intervention. The Borno State Universal Basic Education Board Chairman, Dr. Shettima Kullima said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, ECW was the first donor to render support to conflict-affected North East Nigeria. He said the global fund is supporting Nigeria in the advancement of education in emergencies through the multi-year resilience programme. “This is highly commendable, and a much-appreciated endeavour,” he said. While lamenting incessant attacks on schools, he said: “Children and teachers are being targeted in violent attacks. “The Killings, rape and other forms of sexual violence, abduction and child recruitment are putting girls and boys at extreme risk.” Sherif also noted that education is not only every child’s right but the protection it provides is also all too often life-saving. He added that the new education in emergency response, which delivers across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, helps sow the seeds of peace and tolerance. According to him, it also ensures girls and boys have access to safe and protective learning environments. He noted that despite Nigeria’s progress in addressing protracted crises in the northeast with limited resources, progress has been uneven. Speaking of out of school children over a decade long insurgency, he said: “There are still approximately a million children, including 583,000 girls, and 18,000 education personnel that are in rapid need of support. The support, according to him, was to either resume or sustain education in northeast Nigeria. He therefore called on the public and private sector donors to urgently help close the $98.7 million (about N37.41 billion) funding gap for this crucial programme. He said the number of children and youth with chronic needs in education remains high across the insurgency affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. Continued; he said: “Estimates indicate that nearly 60 per cent of primary-school-age children and adolescents are not attending school, with girls disproportionally affected. “Despite a decrease in the number of security incidents targeting education structures since 2017, the risk of violent attacks, abduction, and kidnappings remains a constant threat.” He disclosed that poverty remains one of the greatest barriers to educational access. On how poverty deprives children of education, he said: “Parents simply cannot afford to send their children to school. COVID-19 has also made matters even worse. “Classrooms often lack school furniture and water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, teachers are poorly paid, and schools and learning centres often lack high-quality learning materials. “About 50% of the targeted beneficiaries are displaced children and youth, while the other half live in host communities that are affected by conflict.” While implementing the programme, he said: “Over 482,000 girls and boys will access learning opportunities of whom over 60% are girls and adolescent girls. “The programme also targets 48,000 girls and boys in early learning programmes, 380,000 at primary level and some 50,000 at the secondary level, in both formal and non-formal education settings. The programme will also build and renovate classrooms and learning spaces, support stipends for teachers. “We’ll also increase continuity by working with local partners to keep children and youth in school. “It will also ensure educators have the training and tools they need to build gender-responsive learning plans, and safe and protective learning environments that respond,” noting that specific needs of girls, children with disabilities and crisis-affected children in need of psychosocial support will be met.
