By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
In a renewed effort to provide digital skills to 13,333 adolescents age groups, especially girls, UNICEF Nigeria is collaborating with Bauchi State Government to commence a program titled ‘Girls Employability and Skills Partnership (GESP) in Nigeria.
Towards that end, a state level consultation meeting was put together on Tuesday 18th April, 2023 by the state ministry of education, with support from UNICEF field office Bauchi.
In his welcome remarks, UNICEF Chief of Field office Bauchi Dr. Tushar Rane said the GESP program is a one year program that is being funded by Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Standard Chartered Bank through UNICEF Nigeria.
Dr. Rane said that the expected outcome of the GESP program is that more young people, including adolescent girls, will be equipped with essential skills to support their transition from school to work.
He said the skills that would be acquired under GESP program will add value to beneficiaries’ education and have added advantage for recruitment after graduation.
Dr. Rane then called on Bauchi State Government to maximize on the opportunity provided by GESP and also be more pragmatic in charting a way forward at the exit of the program.
In highlighting some of the objectives of the consultation meeting, Education officer of UNICEF field office,Raphael Aiyedipe said the that the meeting was to orient participants on the GESP and to present UNICEF national life skills development framework and its relevance.
Aiyedipe further said that during the meeting there will be discussions and harmonization of some missing elements of the skills framework and; also accredit procedure for learning and contents.
The consultation meeting, according to Aiyedipe will equip participants to understand the criteria for schools and center selection and also finalize the selection of schools and centers for the GESP program in Bauchi State.
While sharing more insights on the GESP program, the state focal person in the ministry of education Hajiya Saadatu Muhammad Usman said that already Bauchi State Government has provided the enabling environment through the implementation of the Nigeria Learning Passport (NLP) and that the GESP would leverage on some of the NLP structures to implement its program.
Our correspondent reports that the one year GESP intervention program is targeting a total number of 50,000 beneficiaries from Bauchi, Katsina, Lagos and Sokoto States, with the sum of $630,000 being earmarked for the one year timeframe.
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