About 285,000 children orphaned by the Boko Haram insurgency and children of the vulnerable have been taught basic literacy and numeracy under UNICEF’s Teaching at the Right Level initiative in Borno State over the last three years.
The initiative was funded by the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office of the British government.
UNICEF said the project, which is currently in its third year, was to bring about access to safe, inclusive and high-quality learning to children, especially girls, those with disabilities, and those affected by conflict.
Conducting newsmen around some of the benefitting schools in commemoration of the International Day of Education, on Tuesday, the Education Officer, UNICEF Maiduguri Field Office, Mustapha Shehu, said, “The initiative underscores a comprehensive approach to addressing the educational challenges posed by conflict, specifically emphasising inclusivity and quality learning for vulnerable children.
“The TaRL pedagogy is learner-friendly and increases enrolment, attendance and retention of pupils at school”.
He said 2,800 teachers were trained on the TaRL method of teaching in Maiduguri, Jere and Konduga, and each teacher taught about 50 pupils for two hours daily in arranged open spaces outside the normal classroom environment for fast learning.
The Head Teacher of Mohammed Aji Goni Laminu Primary School in the Jere Local Government Areas, one of the 140 benefitting schools in Borno State, Ngari Bukar, said, “Over 50 per cent of the benefitting children are orphans whose parents were killed by the Boko Haram insurgents”.
