By Sadiq Abubakar Maiduguri
Education will continue to be the main focus to accelerate interventions and ensure sustainable eff orts to deliver more quality results in the best interest of girls and boys in Borno state. UNICEF Representative, Mohamed Malick Fall, noted this at a meeting with the Borno state Executive Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (BSUBEB). Th e Representative said UNICEF was consulting with government and other key stakeholders to agree on the best way forward and to ensure all concerned were on the same page. “UNICEF is committed to ensuring that every school age child goes to school regardless of the confl ict as a right of these children”, Malick said.
In his response, the Executive Chairman of BSUBEB, Dr. Shettima Bukar Kullima, told the Representative that due to the strategic interventions by UNICEF in the state, the girlchild education was receiving a boost much more than ever with signifi cant increase in enrolment because of support from UNICEF. UNICEF in the state was considering double shifting practice to provide a more qualitative education for children with improved teaching and learning environment. Th is initiative , he said would start with 24 new schools in the state as a pilot scheme, while UNICEF is preparing to provide 30,000 girls with school uniform and other learning materials and teaching aids by September this year. It could be recalled that UNICEF had supported 28,000 girls with complete set of school uniform in 2016. UNICEF Education Specialist in Maiduguri offi ce, Dr. Yusuf Ismail. said so far UNICEF was the only organisation providing formal education support in the newly liberated areas from insurgents groups throughout the state.
