500 Teachers Beneenefit From UNICEF, Niger – Facilitated Training To boost Education

Chinwendu Nnadozie

As part of measures to improve standards of education, Niger state ministry of Basic and Secondary Education is partnering the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) to train 500 teachers in enhanced access to learning for underserved and disadvantaged children in security prone parts of the State

The three-day training which took place over the weekend was for teachers drawn from; Munya, Shiroro and Suleja local government areas on Nigerian Learning Passport (NLP) blended learning.

The Education Officer, UNICEF Kaduna Field Office, Dada Bala, in his remarks explained plans to register, enroll and provide courses for 50, 000 number of children on the NLP platform.

The training of the 500, the agency further emphasized is to equipped them with knowledge and skills to utilise the NLP platform for learning and learner’s enrollment.

Investing in teacher’s capacity building, according to Dada would sustain educational access in hard-to-reach and secure areas of Niger state.

He said, “Trained teachers will leverage blended approaches to extend learning to displaced and vulnerable learners in parts of Niger state”.

This initiative, according to the UNICEF Field Officer is aimed at not only to improving access to education for the disadvantage children, but promote learning continuity in crisis-prone areas.

Also speaking, Malam Farouk Mashegue, the UNICEF Focal Person in Niger state Ministry for Basic and Secondary Education said the training was as a result of a recent report uneviled during a dissemination meeting on the impact of insecurity on the education sector of the state economy.

The report on the impact of insecurity in the education sector recommended the need to enchace teacher’s capacity to address challenges of access to education, retention and quality learning.

Mashegue further explained that the teachers were trained to deliver blended learning via NLP platform and enrolment process, digital literacy skills in basic ICT, mobile apps and data entry amongst others.

The beneficiaries were also trained on psychosocial support and inclusive teaching in crisis-prone communities, record management and monitoring systems in addition to strategic assignment of teachers to local government areas.