- UNESCO celebrates graduation of 7500 non-formal learners
By Paul Obi
The federal government on Thursday in Abuja expressed concern about the increasing marginalisation of, and discrimination against women in education, stating that there is urgent need to foster equity and equal access to education.
Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, stated this during the graduation ceremony of 7500 non-formal learners, a project spearheaded by UNESCO.
The minister, represented by the Executive Secretary, National Commission for Mass Literacy Education, Adult and Non-Formal Education, Jubril Paiko, harped on the need to bridge the gender gap in education.
According to Adamu, “There is no gain saying the fact that girls and women are an integral part of nation building and they play a crucial role in national development.
“Unfortunately, girls are women make up the larger population among the unreached, the marginalised, the out-of-school children, and vulnerable populations and groups who have suffered from prejudice, discrimination and sometimes exclusion.”
Adamu further stated that “girls’ education and incidence of boys drop out remain top on the education agenda. We are implementing innovative strategies to address socio-cultural practices that negate girls education in the north, inadequate number of female teachers, inaccessibility to education facilities, unsafe and unsecure environment.”
UNESCO Regional Director, Benoit Sossou, said there were major achievements in the two projects in spite of some obvious challenges: “Our target of 60, 000 girls and women, included 45,000 non-formal education learners and 15,000 junior secondary school girls for formal school system.”
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