|
Building Community Support for Improved Education in Nigeria   
May 12, 2010 — “The Choose A Future! training has helped me put my past behind me and move on to attain a better future. I have learned to say ‘No’ to situations I do not like, irrespective of who may be involved,” said an 18-year old participant in CEDPA's Better Life Option program in Ibeno, Nigeria. “Now I just want to get back to school and continue with my education.” Testimonies like this one show the impact that the Better Life Options education program is having on youth in the southern Nigerian communties of Eket, Esit Eket, Ibeno and Onna. In western and central Africa, 45 percent or 24 million children do not attend school. Nigeria’s rates are just as high, especially for girls. According to a UNICEF study, up to 80 percent of women in northern Nigeria are illiterate and have never attended school. There are many obstacles that stand in the way of girls' education including poverty, traditional practices like child marriage, and early pregnancy. But these obstacles are not insurmountable. CEDPA began implementing Better Life Options: Empowering Girls and Boys for Future Leadership in Nigeria in 2005, with support from the ExxonMobil Foundation. The program improves the knowledge, life skills and gender awareness of youth to better prepare them to make healthy and productive choices regarding their education, reproductive health and civic participation. The program was designed hand-in-hand with local stakeholders, which helped adapt CEDPA's curriculum to specific needs in southern Nigeria. The approach includes outreach to key community members, including village chiefs, women leaders, religious leaders, youth and others to gain their support for improving the educational outcomes of youth. Community members provide ongoing support to the program, including mentoring youth as they return to school.
These community stakeholders also provide materials and other support to keep youth in school. “Most children do not intend to drop out; they do not drop out because they want to. They do not have the resources, and we see that as our role,” says one community leader. “We help get the girls back in school [by providing] books, uniforms and writing materials so that they can stay in school.” From its beginnings, the program has gained so much support that nearby communities are now enquiring about how to extend the Better Life Options program into their communities. “I noticed that a group of newly enrolled girls were different from other students, they were well behaved and very committed to their studies. What struck me was the way they would respond to issues as though they were full-blown adults and even talk about their rights with so much confidence,” said one teacher from Ibeno who later became a CEDPA facilitator. “After joining the team, I now know the secret behind their confidence…the Choose A Future! Curriculum.” Learn more about CEDPA’s girls education and youth development programs. |
|
