ADVOCACY FOR ICT REMOTE LEARNING FOR OUT OF SCHOOL MARRIED ADOLESCENT(AIRLOMA Project)
Background
Girls in Kaduna State have, in general, fewer educational opportunities, face considerable health risks due to early and frequent childbearing, have limited access to credit and productive resources, and have poorer labour market outcomes even when gaps in human capital are considered. The Kaduna State Annual School Census Report (2020) puts the non-completion or drop-out rate among adolescent girls at 25%, a number projected to have increased following the pandemic, as well as the recent raise in the rates of insecurity and poverty, and the early marriages that ensued.
In a bid to improve secondary school completion and transition rate, the Kaduna State Government launched the Second Chance Education programme in 2018 which subsequently resulted into a Policy in 2019. The policy aims to provide a second opportunity for school age students who missed earlier opportunities to acquire formal education, and those who could not complete and transition to do so. The impact of the Policy has been positive on its target population since implementation commenced. However, its limitation to classroom learning has placed a constraint on the ability of drop-out married adolescent girls to benefit from the programme due to either domestic demands from marriage and child bearing/care, or other socio-cultural factors that prevents them from returning and/or staying in school, and transitioning.
The Second Chance Education programme has the capacity to reach more dropout married adolescent if it leverages on Information Communications Technology (ICT) to provide an option for remote learning.
About the Project
The “Advocacy for ICT Remote Learning for Out of School Married Adolescent” (AIRLOMA) project is a 12-months (2023-2024) Rise Up project (a program of the Public Health Institute, through funding from the Cummins Foundation) which will pool stakeholders in the education sector to advocate for the amendment of the Second Chance Education Policy 2019 in Kaduna state to include remote learning options, especially for married adolescents who would otherwise miss out on the opportunity to return and/or stay in school due to the classroom orientation of learning. The project will be led by the Basileia Vulnerable Persons Right Initiative (BVPRI) and Helen Memorial Foundation (HMF), two (2) Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) dedicated to promoting the rights of vulnerable persons, especially women.
Intended impact of the project
The inclusion of remote learning options will make learning flexible enough to help married adolescent girls cope with domestic demands and learning, thereby improving the girl-child’s secondary school completion rates in the State. The project is also expected to, in the longer term, improve the health, nutrition, and livelihood outcomes of the beneficiaries as it will empower them to make better choices- including Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) choices, as well as provide them digital skills that will bridge the gender digital gap and prepare them for the future of work.