School administrators develop action plan to sustain UNICEF REACH project

Heads of some selected Primary and Secondary Schools in Katsina State have developed an action plan to ensure the sustainability of the Reaching and Empowering Adolescent Girls in Northern Nigeria, (REACH) project in their schools.

The administrators, numbering 200, comprising all principals, headmasters/headmistresses, or their representatives, developed the plan at a one-day meeting in Katsina on Wednesday.

The meeting was organised by the Katsina State University Basic Education Board (SUBEB), in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF), Kano Field office.

NEWSVERGE reports that the participants were selected from some schools in Katsina, Mani and Rimi Local Government Areas (LGAs).

The participants while expressing their commitment, also pledged to apply all the necessary means to ensure the children acquired the required knowledge and skills.

Mrs Azuka Mentiki, an Education specialist with the UNICEF Nigeria, Abuja office said the two-year project is being implemented from November 2022 in Katsina and Sokoto States.

She added that the project was aimed at ensuring that children are enrolled, retained, transit and complete both primary and secondary education across the benefitting states.

According to UNICEF’s education specialist, Katsina, Mani, Rimi, Baure, Kankara and Kafur are the benefiting LGAs in the state.

“Our target is to equip the girls with skills and knowledge that will support them to stay in school and learn a lot of skills, and transit into further education or into work.

“What we have done in the past two years, is to build the capacity of young boys and girls on transferable life skills and vocational skills that will help them to build their lives with dignity.

“It is also to help them to live in a life of knowledge and skills to help them to compete favourably in the labour market.

“What we did was to establish Girl-for-Girl groups, and also He-for-She groups in the 100 schools that we are implementing in Katsina, and another 100 in Sokoto.”

Mentiki pointed out that these groups will support girls who are in transitioning class to build their self-esteem, negotiation skills, critical thinking skills and also to appreciate who they are and also the need for them to stay in school and continue to learn.

“This meeting was to ensure that this effort continues in those schools even when the project has ended.

“But most importantly is that the children remain from the state, indigenes of these LGAs and also from those schools.

“We believe it’s the duty of these heads to ensure that the training on enrollment, retention, transition and completion of school is not left.

NEWSVERGE reports that REACH project is part of the STEP (Strive Towards Excellence Programme) and aims to enhance the capacity and bench strength of National Staff, through the delivery of a holistic blended learning programme that focuses on key technical and soft skills that have been identified as critical for high performing Staff.

The programme is also designed to empower high performing National Staff to attain international careers, at the same time, support staff’s professional development, career transition and new culture alignment.