British Council, Oando unveil $6m initiative for pupils

Oando Foundation and the British Council have inaugurated Reach a Girl, Teach a Girl: Girls’ School Enrollment in Nigeria to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the country.

The $6m project, a Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action, aims at enrolling no fewer than 230,000 Nigerian girls in primary school in the next three years.

The proposal, our correspondents gathered, would also help no fewer than 21,000 girls transit from primary to secondary school.

According to Executive Director, Oando Foundation, Ms. Tokunboh Durosaro, the scheme seeks to ensure that girls and women get the opportunity to play productive roles in governance and the larger society.

In addition, she noted that the initiative would help reduce the population of 10.5 million out-of-school children in Nigeria.

“Our track record of success and transforming schools across the country is directly connected to our familiarity with the social issue Nigerians face. The partnership with British Council is an opportunity to utilise our complementary skills to remove the barriers that inhibit Nigerian girls’ education.”

In a statement, the partnership highlighted the objectives of the initiative, which include, ensuring that, “girls enter and stay in school through secondary education, ensuring that schools are safe and facilities are girl-friendly, improving the quality of learning opportunities for girls,” among others.

The British Council’s Nigeria Director, Connie Price, said the project was committed to helping Nigerian girls and women realise their full potential through education.

“The British Council is proud to demonstrate the UK’s commitment to ensuring that girls and women are able to play a full and productive role in Nigerian society. Our ambition is to convene a broad range of partners, such as the Oando Foundation, who are committed to ensuring girls receive quality education,” Price added.

A former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, Clinton Foundation Vice-Chair, Chelsea Clinton, and a former Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, during the 10th annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiatives announced that more than 30 groups were collaborating through the Collaborative Harnessing Ambition and Resources for Girls’ Education to advance girls’ education worldwide.

CHARGE’s commitments focus on five key areas in global girls’ education, which include ensuring that girls enter and stay in school through secondary education, and that schools are safe and facilities are girl-friendly.

Others are improving the quality of learning opportunities for girls; supporting girls from secondary school to post-secondary school and preparing them for the workforce; and supporting developing country leaders to catalyse change in girls’ education.

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