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Niger Encourages More Female into Teaching Job
Olabode Adaramola
Niger state government has began a deliberate policy to encourage girl-child enrolment and retention in schools by encouraging more female students into the teaching profession.
Part of the policy direction is the enrolment of 2,000 girls into various Colleges of Education in parts of the state to acquire basic teaching techniques before assigning them to primary schools as teachers.
This was part of the disclosure during the activities marking the International Day for the Girl-Child in Minna the state capital.
The Director, School Services in the Niger state Universal Basic Education Board(SUBEB) Mallam Mahmud Sani said the students were selected from the three zones that make up the state and given scholarship to obtained National Certificate of Education (NCE) in Colleges of Education.
He said out of the number , 500 have been issued certificates, while many others have secured employment with the state primary education board and were appropriately deployed to rural areas where there are incidence of low enrolment of girl-child in schools.
The measure he noted , was aimed at bridging the gap between girls and boys in school enrolment. “With the presence of female teachers at that tier of education parents and pupils, especially girls will be encouraged to enrol in school.
He said the state government has also collaborated with UNICEF to encourage the enrolment of girl-child by providing stipends to indigent parents to takecare of hidden costs that will hinder them from sending their wards to school.
He said 12,000 pupils have so far benefited from the scheme in 72 schools across the state.
