By Chika Nwachukwu
In a significant move to boost education in Jigawa State, women are playing a pivotal role in raising awareness about the importance of education and encouraging parents to enroll their children, especially girls, in school.
Governor, Umar Namadi disclosed this when he paid a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary of Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, Aisha Garba.
He explained that the state’s strategy to engage women as community influencers and mobilisers had shown promising results, with many women actively promoting education and encouraging parents to send their children to school.
A statement signed by the Head of Public Relations and Protocol, UBEC, David Apeh, noted that the visit also focused on strengthening the partnership between Jigawa State and UBEC, with particular emphasis on addressing critical challenges in the basic education sector.
Namadi reaffirmed his administration’s unwavering commitment to improve educational outcomes across the state.
He called for deeper collaboration to tackle pressing issues such as maintenance of infrastructure and teacher shortages.
Namadi also highlighted innovative strategies being employed by the state to boost school enrolment, particularly the engagement of women as community influencers and mobilisers.
In her response, the executive secretary commended Jigawa State for its strong track record, especially in the timely payment of counterpart funding, effective implementation of UBEC-supported projects and commitment to transparency.
She expressed the commitment of the current administration to continue to provide support to state governments in line with the ongoing efforts to transform basic education in Nigeria.
Garba underscored the importance of collaboration and the need to prioritise delivery of quality education, noting that Jigawa’s dedication has earned it increased financial support and greater access to intervention funds.
She also informed the governor that Jigawa was part of the beneficiaries of the Hope-Edu World Bank funded project that will kick off soon, to address the challenges in the basic education sector.
A key highlight of the meeting was UBEC’s renewed commitment to intensify capacity-building initiatives in Jigawa State.
The commission plans to launch targeted programmes aimed at improving the skills of teachers and education managers, ultimately enhancing service delivery and learning outcomes at the basic education level.
