By Mofe' Joseph | Program Coordinator
Thank you, donor! Thank you, GlobalGiving!
Your generosity is helping to provide life-changing opportunities for several hundreds of public secondary school students from low-income families in Nigeria.
Supporting students and teachers alike to embrace technology for learning is key to bridging the learning gaps created by the pandemic. Our activities this period included supporting public school teachers to hone their skills in delivering academic instruction virtually, and giving the class of girls in the 4th cohort of the Foundation’s SHE program a memorable and capstone experience to a most extraordinary close to their final years of high school.
Teacher capacity plays an important role in the educational outcomes of students and the Foundation’s teacher capacity-building workshops equip teachers for effective delivery of virtual instructions, optimal classroom management, and safe virtual student engagement. 116 teachers participated in the first round of the webinar series which was delivered over 4 weeks. A mini-grant was awarded to four teachers to support their skill development through the practice of zoom classes with their students. The practice sessions had 49 students in attendance. The 2nd round of webinars commenced October 16 with 43 teachers in attendance. The teacher training primarily targets public school teachers.
Their penultimate and final year of high school for students in the SHE 4 cohort were characterized by the constantly changing format of education delivery that the COVID-19 pandemic sprang on all students the world over. Closing events were scheduled for the 278 girls in the SHE 4 class and the events were held across 10 schools in order to adhere to COVID-19 protocols. A total of 238 girls were present at the events.
The events took place on the 21st and 27th September 2021 and featured a refresher of the Foundation’s leadership, ethics, and life skills workshop, and some really emotive reflections from the girls on their experiences through the COVID-19 lockdown and its immediate aftermath. The girls shared how lessons on effective communication, goal setting, and self-awareness had impacted them and had been utilized since the workshops were delivered in January/February 2020, and also reflected on their fears and hopes for life after school.
Some of the fears expressed by the girls include: becoming a mother too early, not having enough money to proceed to higher education, failing their final exams, parental influence on university courses of study, and fear of the unknown. They also expressed hopes of gaining admission into a university, being financially independent, traveling, and becoming an entrepreneur. The reflection segments were quite emotional across most of the schools.
We are not relenting on our resolve to continue to make high-impact, high-value investments in the lives of the SHE girls. Even after leaving secondary school, our work with them is not done. The end of their participation in the SHE Initiative in-school program upon graduation from senior secondary school also marks the beginning of a new phase in their lives as SHE ambassadors and members of a growing group of SHE alumni.
Our work with the SHE alumni is primarily virtual, and we continue to equip the girls with information, skills, and resources to support and sustain learning and development. The constantly evolving school calendar has delayed the delivery of the remedial sessions for students but we continue to work with the school system towards delivering the program.
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