The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) in partnership with Sokoto government, is set to train 830 female teachers.
The scheme, which is to provide enough role models for female students especially in rural communities in different parts of the state, is being executed under UNICEF’s Girls Education Project (GEP3).
In a statement released by the Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to the governor, Imam Imam on Tuesday, it was disclosed that the 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, during a sensitization visit to the wife of the state Governor, Mariya Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, said the GEP3 project also aims to get rural children back to school without further delay.
“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 said.
Naibi said to help reduce poverty issues,the Sokoto state government and UNICEF introduced a cash transfer programme where mothers or care givers are paid 5000 Naira monthly for sending a girl child to school to assist them buy books and other things for the girls.
“In addition to the payment to mothers and care givers, the trainee female teachers also get paid to aid their education while at the end of their studies, they are absorbed into the state civil service as teachers in their localities. So far, the GEP3 is implemented in six local government areas namely 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,” the statement said.
