USAID partners AUN to boost education in ravaged Northeast Nigeria

USAID partners AUN to boost education in ravaged Northeast Nigeria

…Partnership to strengthen basic education for 200,000 students

By Innocent Odoh, Abuja

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched a new education activity in collaboration with the American University of Nigeria (AUN) to re-establish basic education in the conflict-ravaged areas in northeastern Adamawa and Gombe states.

A statement issued on Friday by the Public Affairs Division of the United States Embassy in Abuja, said that under a three-year, $13.3 million agreement, AUN will collaborate with Columbia and Kent State universities in the U.S. The collaboration also involved local government and community leaders to implement ‘Addressing Education in Northeast Nigeria’ (AENN) to improve the ability of education managers to plan and deliver basic services in-line with the states’ education sector strategy. There will be a special emphasis on training female leaders.

AENN will also address the social and emotional challenges that both educators and learners face from the disruptions caused by extremist insurgency, the statement added.

“This new activity focuses on some of the most vulnerable areas of Nigeria, where insurgents have made eradication of education a specific tenet of their policy,” said Denise O’Toole, the USAID Education Office Director. “Our support helps a major institute of higher learning in the northeast re-establish the basics of primary education for thousands of students.”

AENN will address the daunting challenges facing the education systems in Adamawa and Gombe by training 100 education managers, improving the instructional skills of 5,000 teachers, and focusing specific training for female teachers in 200 primary schools. These efforts are expected to improve the learning outcomes for 200,000 primary school boys and girls.

Access to education in the northeast has severely declined since the Boko Haram and Islamic State-West Africa insurgencies began displacing families and communities a decade ago. AENN will address the resulting acute educational needs while laying a foundation to rebuild and transform the education system.

It will help provide educational continuity, stabilise instutional capacity, improve the quality of teaching and learning, increase equitable access, and integrate peacebuilding and safety considerations into school communities, the statement added.

USAID leads international development and humanitarian efforts to save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance and help people progress beyond assistance.