DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTION IN BASIC EDUCATION: Enhancing the Girl-Child Education in rural Communities of Northern Nigeria

Gender Equity in Education has been one of the main goals targeted by Nigeria since the 1990 World Conference on Education for All in Jomtein, Thailand. This commitment has been renewed in several international forums, including the United Nations Decades for Girl’s Education Initiative (UNGEI). UNICEF and ACTIONAID Nigeria have been building Girl-Child friendly school initiative to support the existing Universal Basic Education (UBE) policy on ground in Nigeria to enhance and accelerate girls schooling in Northern Nigeria towards the attainment of the Education for All and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) especially with respect to provision of Basic Education for all and Gender parity in Education. This research which compared the two strategies adopted by these International Development Partners (IDPs) have identified strengthening the existing Universal Basic Education policy by integrating gender policy into Basic Education, the establishment of school Based Management Committees in all primary schools in Northern Nigeria, Involvement of Civil Society Organisations and the use of REFLECT methodology as a way of empowering the Communities as some of the appropriate and best practices inherent in these intervention projects. Based on these findings it has suggested far reaching measures that could inspire, inform and influence policy transformation and adjustment to enhance the participation of the Girl-Child in Basic Education with a view to achieving Gender Parity and Education for all by 2015 in Nigeria.