Nigeria: Keeping boys and girls in school and learning

Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa and, with about 200 million people, the most populous country on the continent. The country is composed of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Over the past five years, GPE has supported education in five states in the northwestern region of Nigeria: Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Sokoto, with the largest proportions of out-of-school children in the country (for example 65% of children are out of school in Sokoto and 61% in Jigawa).

One of the largest groups of out-of-school children in this region are children who attend Islamiyya (Koranic) schools, which are religious schools that focus on the study of the Koran and do not teach formal core subjects.

This group of children accounts for approximately 18% of out-of-school boys and 27% of out-of-school girls in Nigeria.

GPE’s support to integrated religious schools

A common thread in the five states that received GPE grants is the importance attached to Islamic education.

While some Islamiyya schools teach only Islamic religious education, there are also integrated Islamiyya schools: government-funded community-based schools that provide a broader Islamic education alongside a government basic education curriculum that includes literacy and numeracy as well as core subjects of English, mathematics, social studies and science.

Starting in 2015, the GPE-supported program, the Nigeria Partnership for Education Project (NIPEP), funded by a US$100 million grant, aimed to improve basic education access, retention and learning in both public schools and integrated Islamiyya schools overseen by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

The program aimed to directly benefit children, particularly girls, who attended integrated Islamiyya schools in the five states.

Unlike regular education funding, the GPE grant was channeled directly to school bank accounts—jointly managed by the headteacher and community representatives through the school management committees—for the procurement of materials in support of improved student retention and learning.

A total of 46,366 pre-primary and primary schools were awarded the NIPEP school grants, of which more than 35% are integrated Islamiyya schools. A further 150 nomadic schools in Sokoto also received grants.

Recipient schools decided how to use the grants, under the guidance of the school management committees; school development plans were created based on the belief that school communities are best suited to understand the needs of their school.

Community use of the funds varied from repair of school furniture or building latrines to mending of school fences. In most cases, the communities provided free labor for the projects.

Increasing girls' enrollment and retaining them in school

Mariam Isah is an 8-year-old old girl from Jigawa State and is in 2^nd grade.

Her grandfather, who is the Chief of Goma Village, wants his granddaughter to finish school and become a doctor or nurse who can help uplift the health of her community. But Mariam has a different plan: “I want to be a teacher so I can help other children learn”, she says.

Unlike Mariam, a disproportionately large number of out-of-school children in Nigeria are female: 65.3% of girls in the states that GPE supported have never attended school or are enrolled in non-integrated religious schools.

Poverty has a particularly undesirable effect on girls’ enrollment, but girls face many other additional barriers inhibiting their access to education: early marriage, pregnancy, work, social norms and increasing security-related challenges.

According to the 2011 Nigeria Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 30% to 40% of girls in the northeast and northwest regions are married before the age of 15.

These factors, in combination with the fact that many students will have started their primary schooling later than the official age of 6, increase the likelihood of girls leaving school for marriage before they complete primary school.

The NIPEP aimed to increase girls’ access to primary education through the provision of scholarships to low-income families in poor communities.

Stipends were paid to parents or caregivers to encourage the enrollment of girls in lower primary school as such funds support the family making up for potential lost income from the girls while they are in class.

417,302 girls received scholarships from the program, which was used to buy education supplies such as textbooks, uniforms and shoes. Community mobilization campaigns also received support to raise awareness on the importance of girls' education.

As few female teachers have the required qualifications, the program also provided them scholarships to update their education and teaching skills, enabling them to serve as advocates and role models for girls.

Ensuring teachers are well prepared to teach

Poor teaching quality, especially in the northern states, is underpinned by outdated and heavily theoretical pre-service training, inadequate in-service training, a lack of qualified and experienced teacher trainers, and a poor fit between the education of teachers and the curriculum taught in the classrooms.

Moreover during in-service training, teachers do not receive sufficient instruction in child-centered, gender-responsive teaching methods, and are not provided with specific techniques to improve student learning (for example, reading techniques suitable for large class sizes).

Schools in rural and remote areas generally have more difficulty in attracting and retaining qualified teachers. The northwest region has the highest percentage of unqualified primary school teachers in the country.

Working in partnership for greater impact

In line with its partnership approach, GPE brings together all education partners in the local education group, enabling them to contribute at all stages of the planning cycle, from sector analysis to evaluation.

GPE supported the creation of the National Education Group in Abuja, which is led by the government and composed of development partners, civil society organizations, donors and the private sector.

The forum started with a limited notion of its role, focusing mostly on issues around the GPE grant, but it has evolved into a national body that discusses all issues related to the education sector.

The group has now become instituted as part of the education culture in the country. It is a forum for everyone working in education to come together and where each partner’s voice is heard, as well as important to GPE processes.

Since the NIPEP closed in 2020, GPE continues to support Nigeria: In June 2020, GPE approved a $15 million COVID-19 emergency grant to support the country’s response to the pandemic in 16 states.

And in August 2020, GPE approved a $20 million accelerated grant targeting Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, focusing on girls and internally displaced children, as well as host and marginalized communities who are suffering from lack of access to education.