By Zubairu Idris
Katsina – The UN Children Fund (UNICEF) says the Katsina State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) will employ 106 girls as primary school teachers under the Girls Education Programme (GEP 3).
Hajiya Zainab Kaita, the UNICEF Desk Officer at SUBEB, disclosed this during a press briefing in Katsina on Wednesday as part of activities to mark the 2016 UN Girl-Child Day.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the theme for this year’s girl-child day is “Girls Progress Equals to Goals Progress.”
The desk officer said that under the programme, UNICEF would provide scholarship to the girls up to National Certificate of Education (NCE) level.
She added that “after obtaining NCE, the girls will be employed by SUBEB and posted to their respective rural areas to teach in primary schools.
“That will assist to reduce the problem of inadequate female teachers in primary schools across the state.”
According to her, UNICEF has selected Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Niger and Zamfara states for the programmme.
Kaita revealed that the girls would also be given access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities to improve their healthcare condition.
She said that poverty, security challenges and inadequate female teachers were some factors responsible for low girl-child school enrollment in the country.
The Chairperson, High Level Women Advocates (HilWA), Hajiya Mariya Abdullahi, also told newsmen
that the state had 19,274 teachers, out of which, only 4,341 were females, representing 23 per cent.
She said that out of the 13,051 teachers who were qualified for teaching, only 3,238 were females, representing 25 per cent.
“You can see why there is the need for all and sundry to put hands together to ensure that more girls are enrolled in schools up to tertiary level,’’ she said.
She said that the organisation’s activities for this year would focus on increased investments in girls’ health, safety and education.
Abdullahi urged parents to take their daughters to schools for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) .
