The Nigeria Northern Education Initiative (NEI) strengthened basic education systems in Nigeria by increasing access to quality education and social services in two northern states: Bauchi and Sokoto. The four-year, USAID-funded project also established health and social service programs and provides care and support for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs).

The quality of basic education in northern Nigeria is extremely poor, leading to low demand and unacceptably low academic performance, especially in the Koranic school system. Less than 30 percent of school-aged children are estimated to have basic literacy and numeracy skills, and many struggle with the consequences of HIV/AIDS, poverty and social-cultural practices inimical to educational participation.

With NEI, Creative improved the country’s education system by providing OVCs to basic education, instituting teacher education and training, and strengthening state-level systems.

Taking a community-based approach, NEI established Community Coalitions to support OVCs through established networks and institutions. Support teams track their progress in school and ensure they have access to the necessary programs and services to prevent them from falling through the cracks or dropping out.

NEI worked with the government to adapt policies, enhance systems and develop tools and procedures to address five key elements common to effective schools: learning, teaching, school management, parental participation, and responsiveness to children’s needs.

The project built teachers’ professional skills through school-based training and specially-developed activity-based manuals. It also provides support and training to Nigeria’s Koranic schools, encouraging them to enrich their curricula with core basic education subjects like literacy and numeracy, and to periodically examine their pupils and graduate them into formal schools.

The project saw a 33 percent boost in student enrollment in the states of Bauchi and Sokoto, with girls representing an impressive 38 percent jump. NEI trained more than 3,500 classroom teachers and facilitators in four thematic areas: literacy; math; life skills; and psychosocial counseling. It has developed activity-based training manuals in core subjects including literacy, and trained 3,568 teachers on how best to teach them.