Girls silently dropping out while in classrooms, FG warns - The Guardian Nigeria News
Girls could effectively drop out of school while still sitting in the classroom; therefore, the need for teachers to identify and address bullying, abuse, exclusion and other factors that silently push learners out of education, the federal government has said.
The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, spoke yesterday in Abuja at the National Trainersβ Workshop on Safe Learning Environment, Gender-Responsive Technology and ICT Skills for Educators in Teacher Training Institutions in Nigeria.
Ahmad, represented by the Director, College of Education in the ministry, Dr Uchenna Uba, stressed that physical attendance alone should no longer be regarded as evidence that a child was benefiting from education.
Ahmad noted that a girl could remain in school every day but gradually withdraw after being repeatedly ignored, ridiculed, bullied or made to feel unsafe.
According to the minister, the warning underscored the need for Nigeria to move beyond simply enrolling children in school to ensuring that they were safe, included and learning.
Meanwhile, Ahmad noted that though the ministry had introduced the National Policy on Anti-Bullying in Nigerian Schools and its implementation guidelines, the success of such policies would ultimately depend on teachers and other adults in schools.
The workshop is expected to train 45 master trainers from 15 teacher training colleges in gender-responsive pedagogy, safe learning environments, prevention and response to school-related gender-based violence and digital teaching.
