UNICEF renews working relationship with Kwara after 13 years absence, launches NLP

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has renewed its relationship with the Kwara State Government with the launch of the Nigeria Learning Passport (NLP) in the state.

This renewed working relationship is coming 13 years after the state government last engaged with the global organisation.

The NLP is an online educational platform which provides continuous access to quality education for learners in Nigeria, particularly those who may be out of school, those in need of additional support, and children in areas with little access to technology or school facilities.

Participates at the launch of the NLP program while on the high table are government officials and the UNICEF team

Speaking at the launch of the project in Ilorin, the UNICEF Chief of the Field Office, Kaduna, Gerida Birukila, said it marked the re-start of a partnership between the UNICEF and Kwara State in the education sector.

Represented by the Education Officer, UNICEF Kaduna Field Office, Bala Dada, the UNICEF boss said that Kwara is the 20th state to launch the NLP and to join the global movement of reimagining education.

“With the support of Microsoft, GPE, Airtel, HIS towers and TECHNO, this partnership will build the capacity of 3,000 teachers on digital literacy skills to deliver quality basic education to 120,000 children in Kwara state within one year (teacher-pupil ratio 1:40), providing greater access to reduce the number of out of school children (OOSC) and increase literacy and numeracy,” she said.

Participates at the launch of the NLP program while on the high table are government officials and the UNICEF team

According to her, “The Learning Passport was created globally by UNICEF and Microsoft at a time when education experienced unprecedented disruption due to COVID-19. At the height of the pandemic, 1.6 billion learners were locked out of the education system.

“Since 2022, the project has enrolled 1,478,984 students. Learning passport is available for free on online, mobile, and through offline devices. We are working with Airtel and IS to bridge the data and connectivity gaps. If you have an Airtel sim card, the NLP can be used without data costs.”

UNICEF commended Kwara State on its investment in the education sector across all levels.

“UNICEF is happy to note that The Kwara Education Transformation Agenda (KWETA) has put digital education at the fore of her education programmes with interventions like the StudyLab, KwaraLearn and Digital Learning centres. You have continued to play an exemplary role in ensuring that children have access to quality education, even in the face of major challenges,” she added.

Participates at the launch of the NLP program while on the high table are government officials and the UNICEF team

Also speaking, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mamman Jibril, said his administration will continue to subscribe to policies and programmes that will facilitate accelerated educational development in the state.

The governor said after decisively dealing with the inherited challenges of nonpayment of salaries and abysmal state of the learning environment, the focus of the government is on improving the quality of teaching and learning outcomes through unified curriculum, motivated human resource, and technological tools that ensure a new regime of accountability and modern teaching techniques.

“Along with massive investments in the establishment of digital literacy centres across the state in collaboration with the UBEC, I am happy to say that our strategy has drastically improved literacy and numeracy levels, raised enrolment of learners in the state, and reduced the rate of out of school children,” Mr AbdulRazaq added.

Participates at the launch of the NLP program while on the high table are government officials and the UNICEF team

UNICEF is a global organisation working to improve the lives of children and their families, with a focus on emergency response, education, healthcare, and child protection.

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It was established in 1946 by the United Nations General Assembly to provide aid to children in countries devastated by World War II.

Today, UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to reach the most vulnerable children and adolescents.