BACKGROUND
Covid-19 has affected the rural and urban areas of every community. Nigeria has a high population of out-of-school children, estimated at 13.2 million and the Government has been unable to cater for all the education needs of the rural and urban poor communities, even though some of the facilities are available. Unfortunately, the outbreak of COVID-19 has continued to create greater disparities between the haves and the have not’s, with those having internet enabled mobile devices, tablets or laptops with a good internet connection being able to access EdTech platforms for supplementary education or attend virtual classes, leaving out those with limited means.
In this period, survival has become the first priority, where the poor struggle to make enough money to take care of the basic needs. Investing additional money on learning tools for the education of their children, and their own self for self-improvement takes a distant position in the hierarchy of needs. The people in rural communities earn via daily paid work, while others go to farms and therefore, have lesser opportunities to increase their income.
In line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 4, BKDF’s Aunty Goma Initiative has always striven to contribute to bridging the gaps regarding inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting the well-being for all ages. That is why we are organizing the webinar.
COMMUNIQUE AND OUTCOMES. The Webinar was aimed at driving conversations and exploring avenues to make remote online learning accessible for the underprivileged and poor kids in rural and semi-rural communities.
Some of the challenges ranges from equipping the teachers with the right skills and tools to teach STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) which are actually the most relevant education disciplines for the age of the 4th industrial revolution. Others are equipping the learners with remote learning tools and ensuring that their parents who are predominantly farmers don’t loose their livelihoods amidst the pandemic among other possible areas of intervention.
Speakers, Moderators and Brief profile and topics of their paper or presentation
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PREAMBLE:
The two-hours zoom webinar on the IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON RURAL EDUCATION organized by BKD FOUNDATION attracted stakeholders from the education sector, the Niger State Government, United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Policy Experts, Students and Entrepreneurs from the Northern states of Niger, Nassawara, and Kano, as well as the FCT, Abuja.The webinar was declared open by the moderator, Olushola Macaulay, Communication/Information Program Specialist, UNESCO Regional Office Abuja who gave the opening remarks and webinar objectives.
Following the opening remarks, the FOUNDER/ COO of Bako Kontagora Development Foundation, Hauwa Bako gave a presentation on how Aunty Goma initiative has contributed to providing equitable education as well as coping amid the Covid-19 lockdown.
After which, resources persons took turns learning and brainstorming with the 80 participants on how to address the current challenges, and implement Active Experiential Holistic Learning in Rural Communities.
Observations:
Participants who joined the live webinar observed that:
- This workshop was part of BKD Foundation’s Advocacy for SDG-4 – Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Lifelong Learning for All.
- The delivery format of the webinar included seven (7) lead presentations followed by exhaustive discussions by the participants.
The following lead presentations were made:
a) Contributions of Aunty Goma initiative to providing equitable education amid the Covid-19 lockdown – Hauwa Bako – Founder, Bako Kontagora Development Foundation.
b) Future Oriented Education after Covid-19 based on Active Experiential Holistic Learning – Magdalena Matulewicz – Senior Teacher Trainer and Assessor in ECCE, President of Natural Born Leaders.
c) Implementation of Active Experiential Holistic Learning in Rural Communities in Uganda – John Ssentamu – President of Rural Teachers Association, Uganda.
d) Media and information Literacy (MIL) in a culturally diverse environment – Jide Zubairu Atta
e) Governance and Service Delivery: The role of Government to Bring Education to Low Income Households – Hajiya Hannatu Salihu – Hon. Commissioner for Education, Niger State.
f) Impacts of Covid-19 on Rural Subsistence Agriculture – Aminu Mohammed Bako – Chairman/ CEO Bako Ranch Limited
g) Enhancing the Economy for the Rural and Urban poor Women, Post Covid – 19, and its impact on rural education – Fola Aina – International Security Analyst, and Development Expert.
Following the discussions and interactions, the following resolutions were adopted:
1. Government, in collaboration with communities and Educators should evolve from passive learning (which isn’t enough) to active multil-sensory holistic learning with attention to future oriented skills and mindsets (creativity, leadership, self expression, bodily awareness, talent management, independent thinking, problem solving and reasoning, positive self-image and teamwork) while addressing basic needs like safety, etc., as technology alone does not equal quality learning.
- Governments and Stakeholders in Education sector should, as a matter of urgency, work out strategies for improving teacher trainers through special teacher training sessions to create new curriculum’s that meet current reality. For children to absorb knowledge educators must help children develop early literacy, numeracy, sensory stimulation and fine motor skills.
- Local economy impacts education and service delivery. Governments should be encouraged to engage in public-private collaboration, especially at the rural level, to provide electricity, internet, laptops + projectors, local coordinators and classrooms. Joint projects/programs by NGO’s can be designed to scale up learning projects to cover more rural communities as well as ensuring increased benefits to the citizens.
- There has to be a review curriculum to enable and equip teachers in the rural and urban poor areas to be creative and think outside the box. They should develop smart strategies in order to give children the best they deserve without lamenting, teachers need to be equipped, after which they would equip the learners. Distance must not be a hindrance in the value chain of learning as the Natural Born Leaders organization have shown after it conducted its pilot study in Uganda.
- Ultimately, there is need to urgently advocate for the formulation of a specific African Policy on Rural Education and the urban poor (which SDGs). Elements of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) could be deployed in a non- formal format and implemented to inform the urban and rural poor, helping them sieve out the right information in a structure that can come in useful for them in taking decisions on self- development and improvement. This could also lead to a possible elimination or reduction of gender-based violence, inter spousal violence and gender perspective to developmental education. With MIL, we can collate the various types of media used (African Traditional System of impacting education and information about cultures) and apply it to the transmitting of education to the rural and urban poor.
COVID 19 and Impact
- During and Post COVID 19, Models need to be created to solve challenges of over populated learning spaces in urban poor areas when deploying STEM and infusing it into the Aunty Goma system of community education. We must investigate media applicable to our local cultural settings, using it as means to developing curriculum for that cultural setting. The Niger State Govt. should champion formation of hubs of learning.
- Holistic approach with adaptability measures must be taken to provide humanitarian support to those people most at risk, drawing on and adapting existing social protection systems as much as possible. There need to be a cooperative effort in which governments, non governmental organizations, inter-governmental agencies and business work together with local communities especially in the area of value chain development, in order to improve revenue mobilization and fiscal independence. In conclusion, Bako Range is recognized for walking the talk, and suggesting concrete steps encouraging agriculture as a way of creating income for funding education.
- Unemployment is a major issue that affects education due to the pandemic, as International Labor Organization estimates a loss of about 195 million jobs, with women being the most vulnerable as more women work in the informal sector. Sub-national governments should put systems and strategies in place to ensure that their responses are Reflective of gender integration. This will act as an incentive against gender based violence, inter spousal violence and diversion of resources for women.
- Sub-national governments should adopt best practices in promoting transparency and accountability in governance. Niger State leadership in this respect is highly recognized for the
establishment of 3,138 primary schools with free and compulsory education and learning materials to the rural majority. Provision of cash transfer to women for small business and family support as well as creating female teacher trainees’ scholarship scheme to provide secondary school scholarship to the girl child. The State Ministry of Education has partnered with UNICEF to provide water and safety kits for children in school, also with radio and television stations to provide learning to children. There will be need to form a coalition made up of CSO’s and CBOs and international organizations to collaborate in order to provide increased benefits to the target population.
- Finally, we are grateful to UNESCO, the Niger State Government, all resources persons, and participants from all over the world for their wonderful contributions to making the webinar a success.