The United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) has provided 102,859 children access to inclusive, equitable and quality education in safe and protective learning environments during insurgency, Education Manager, UNICEF, Maiduguri Field Office, Ms Paola Ripamonti has said.
She also said that UNICEF supported a total of 29,985 out-of-school youth and adolescents, mostly females with vocational skills, including poultry farming, shoe making, soap and bag production, tailoring, painting, and interlock tiles production.
Ripamonti stated this Monday at a joint press conference organised with Borno state government and held at Pinnacle Hotel and Luxury Suites Annex, Maiduguri.
She said the youth have already returned back to their communities and have started earning income to provide for their families.
She further stated that some of youth have also returned to school and they are supporting their education with the income they earn from their businesses.
She added that 30 schools have been constructed or rehabilitated and provided with furniture along with sex-segregated WASH facilities.
She stated further that 28 vocational training centres were established across 6 LGAs of the state while 58 temporary learning sheds or spaces were constructed or rehabilitated as interventions to support over 300,000 children, mostly females.
Ripamonti said among them are 20,104 (53% girls) out-of-school children who now access informal learning classes and 16,630 children (52% girls) who transitioned into the formal education system; and over 29,000 youth (55% females) gained employable skills through vocational training.
Additionally, she said 750 members of School-based Management Committees (44% females) have improved school management skills; 1,630 teachers and Community Volunteer Teachers (49% females) which strengthened skills on various themes such as psycho-social support, gender-sensitive pedagogy and effective classroom management.
