Protocol

On behalf of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD) and Malala Fund, we welcome you to this event, which doubles as a media engagement and press briefing on the project, Community-led Collective Action for Girl Education (C-CAGE).

The briefing, beside the Centre using it as opportunity to update the media of developments on the tortuous journey of reducing the number of out of school girls in Adamawa State with support of Malala Fund, will also be used to draw attention and constantly remind the government and the general public about the concerns of out of school children especially that of the girl child in the State and Nigeria at large.

Recent statistics indicate that Nigeria has approximately 13 million out-of-school children, 60% of whom are located in North-Eastern Nigeria. The situation is exacerbated by the insurgency and the insecurity in the region. The baseline study conducted by the Centre, which heralded the implementation of the C-CAGE project, indicated that Adamawa State has 51 percent (886,634) out-of-school children. In the 3 focal local government areas where this project is being implemented, including Maiha has the highest number of out-of-school girls with 66.7%, followed by Song with 63.3%, and Numan with 45%. This implies that on average over 50% of the girls of school age are not in school, the effect on the State and country is huge and can be problematic.

The Centre, in a bid to change the narrative, trained 150 education stakeholders comprising traditional/religious leaders, PTA, and SBMC. The outcome of the training was a nuanced campaign and sensitization by those trained (members of the education committee) to their neighbours and relatives in their respective communities. This effort led to increased enrolment of girls back to school, including those who dropped out in the past due to pregnancy, totaling 104.

The creation of safe spaces also constituted a major source of motivation for the upsurge in the number of enrolments. The safe spaces are platforms deliberately conceptualized and created to pave the way for peer learning between in-school and out-of-school girls. 7 peer learning club called Masu Son Ilimi (Advocates for Education) where established and inaugurated within the last six months. The clubs have 254 girls who are taught basic Mathematics, English, and skills training. The idea is for them to acquire skills to better themselves and contribute to societal development.

However, while the successes in the project are being celebrated, some concerns have been raised up including the challenge of inadequate structure in schools, insufficient and unqualified teachers, as well as the challenge of hidden charges in the focal communities of the project. These concerns and several challenges spotted from the baseline report thus informed the Centre’s advocacy asks and campaign to the State government - the Executive and the Legislators.

Commendation

We want to specifically use the opportunity of this press briefing to thank and commend the State Government for graciously declaring a state of emergency in education and making education free in the state, which include payment of WAEC/NECO enrolment for students in the State, provision of learning materials, and approving the employment of 2,000 teachers to curb the challenge of insufficient teachers, flag-off of bio-data verification to address the challenge of unqualified teachers as well as ongoing construction of more classroom blocks across the State.

We also commend well-meaning individuals in the State and in the focal LGAs, particularly legislators and Commissioners, who have opened their doors to collaborate with Centre LSD and have committed to supporting the project in any way possible to ensure more girls can enrol and complete their secondary education.

Recommendations

While commending the government and its organs/functionaries for their commitment and effort to making the project succeed, we are pleased to recommend the following.

• The government should put a proper monitoring mechanism in place to ensure that there is complete and robust implementation of the free education programme across the State.
• The recruitment of the 2000 teachers should be done based on best practice and devoid of politics to ensure that qualified teachers are recruited to up the quality of education in the State. The posting of teachers after recruitment should not be skewed against the rural areas to ensure fairness and quality across the board.
• The State Government should activate all the SDGs goals in the State and ensure no child is left behind or denied his/her right to education, especially the girl children.
• The Media should continue to partner with the Centre LSD to keep the issue(s) of girl education as a daily media agenda to conscientize the general public on the consequences of not educating the girl child.
• Everyone should join in the advocacy to the National Assembly to amend the Universal Basic Education Act to extend and fill in the gap and improve girl enrolment and retention through Senior secondary school.

Conclusion

As a nongovernmental organization, we remain catalytic in our approach by doing what we are known for and continue to champion and push for 12 years of free, safe, and quality education for all girls. We are committed to keeping faith in creating awareness and mobilizing citizens for change through confidence-building between and amongst stakeholders. At the same time, the Centre enjoins the State Government, Legislators, and other governmental bodies in charge of education and the media to increase support for girl child education to improve not just their lives but that of the society.

Thank you for listening.

Context:

Opening schools safely is an urgent priority, and clean water, toilets, and hygiene are essential to enable that. Yet the UN estimates (NB/ new JMP data expected prior to event) that half of all schools globally do not have soap and water available to students – that’s 900 million children who lack soap and water at their school. This includes 335 million girls who are expected to attend schools without water and soap for washing their hands and for safe and dignified menstrual hygiene management. Provision of safe learning environments is key to ensuring that children are able to again realise their right to education. Indications are that school closures have disproportionately impacted the learning opportunities of the most marginalised children, and also risk rolling back progress on gender equality. COVID-19, therefore, makes the vital importance of good hygiene in schools even more urgent, especially as children and teachers return to schools following lockdown closures. A school without access to clean water, toilets, hygiene, and regular cleaning should not be called a school - it is not a safe environment and is unable to deliver the full benefit of education that schools should offer..

Governments, civil society organisations, development partners and schools, including parents' groups, must therefore act immediately to improve the provision of hygiene services to enable safe, quality learning environments, prioritising the huge numbers of schools, children and teachers without any clean water, soap and hygiene facilities at all. Schools are the new frontiers of the fight against COVID-19, and schools can also be pivotal in bringing about the necessary hygiene revolution to protect future generations against health crises. Schools have a key role in establishing social norms and healthy behaviours, and children are agents of change. Integrating hygiene behaviour change into the education system can deliver long-lasting improved hygiene behaviours at scale. Rapid investment in expanding the provision of sustainable and inclusive WASH services in schools must include large-scale hygiene promotion, training for teachers and parents, as well as the necessary human resources, capital, and cleaning, operation and maintenance investments in infrastructure.

This virtual event will outline the global status of WASH services within schools and highlight national and global action to address this issue in the context of COVID-19 and beyond. Actors from across sectors, countries, and contexts will share perspectives on the opportunities and challenges to shape a clear action agenda for domestic and international investments in this area.

• Heads of State/Government must personally champion nationwide efforts to urgently fund and expand hygiene services in all schools (both government and private schools) as a key priority for the reopening of schools post-lockdown. Heads of State must champion a cross-government approach, underpinned by strong coordination mechanisms to drive joint efforts between ministries responsible for education, health, finance, and WASH.
• Development partners should urgently support country-led action to expand the provision of sustainable WASH services in schools, to accelerate the implementation of existing national roadmaps (where they already exist). Financing should prioritise support to the most vulnerable group,s including schools with no WASH services, girls, students with disabilities, refugee childre,n and out-of-school children.

Headteachers and school managers must take all urgent action within their means to improve hygiene, water, and sanitation provision and compliance with good hygiene behaviours amongst students and teachers

Suggested advocacy tactics

• Seek to influence at the highest political level – Heads of State/Government and Ministers of Education, Health, Finance, and WASH – positioning the reopening of schools post-lockdown as a critical moment for massively scaled-up political action and financing for WASH in schools.
• Use media, social media, and other public communications to highlight the poor state of hygiene in your country’s schools, amplifying the voices of communities and teachers who lack these essentials, especially the most vulnerable groups affected, such as girls and female teachers, student,s and teachers with disabilities. Highlight the positive progress that can be made when this is prioritised, and the urgency of corrective action in the context of COVID-19.
• Establish or strengthen partnerships with education-focused CSOs, NGOs, and coalitions, seeking their support, reinforcement and endorsement of the calls to action for improving hygiene in schools.
• Identify key ‘moments’ in your country around which to highlight this issue, such as the announcement of planned dates for partial or full reopening of schools, or the beginning of a new academic year.
• Draw on programming work by WaterAid or others that supports WASH in schools to provide clear case studies and ‘solutions’ – positioning the issue as demanding strong political leadership and financing from government as the ultimate duty-bearers (i.e. avoid excessively criticising over-burdened/under-resourced schools/teachers).

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