From the street to the classroom – Aisha’s journey to an education
Yobe mothers address barriers to education and ensure more girls enroll and stay in school
It took both persistence and some luck for Aisha Salisu to get an education.
As a child hawking snacks in the streets near her local school in Yobe State, north-east Nigeria, she would see children enter in the morning and wonder what was going on inside the small classrooms.
She decided one day to follow the children and sit in on classes. The lessons sometimes left Aisha confused, but she wasn’t afraid or shy to ask teachers or her friends to explain.
“The pupils and teachers never treated me differently, even though I wasn’t an enrolled student,” said Aisha, now 13 years old.
Fate smiled on Aisha when she crossed paths with Amina Abubakar Imam.
As leader of the local Mothers’ Association, Imam was on a routine monitoring visit to Aisha’s school, the Central Primary School Ngelzarma in Idi Barde community, Yobe State.
“I noticed that this girl was different. She wasn’t wearing a school uniform, didn’t have writing materials and she seemed unlike the other children in the class. I decided to approach her to learn her story,” said Imam.
Government data shows that only about 4 out of 10 girls in north-east Nigeria attend primary school. This is due to factors such as poverty and socio-cultural norms rooted in the misinterpretation of religious provisions regarding western education, particularly for girls.
Through funding from the Bank of Germany (KfW), UNICEF and its partner, Life Helpers Initiative, are working to galvanise support for girls’ education through the establishment of Mothers’ Associations in communities.
In Aisha’s case, the Mothers’ Association covered the cost of her school uniforms and writing materials and engaged with her parents on the issue of her education. As a result, Aisha is now formally enrolled with her friends at the Central Primary School Ngelzarma.
"I am the first out of 21 children in my family that has ever been to a formal school. I can now spell and write my name. I am so excited,” she said.
Imam said the group wants to eliminate the practice of hawking in their community, so that girls can instead focus on getting an education.
“Educating girls has great benefits and cannot be over emphasized,” she said.
With a revolving fund in place, more women are now financially empowered and have a voice to promote and support formal education, especially for their daughters.
“In the past we were helpless when our children said their families had challenges related to the cost of schooling,” said Imam. “But now we have resources and provide these things for children and send them back to school. Not only that, we also have negotiating power to speak and push for education.”
Twelve-year-old Hamsatu Abdulkarim, a primary 5 pupil, is one of many girls in the Idi Barde community who has benefitted from the support of the Mothers’ Association.
"In the past, while pupils in my class wrote down notes, I could not because I did not have writing materials. Now that I have notebooks and pens, I can write like everyone else in my class,” she said.
Interestingly, both Hamsatu and Aisha want to be teachers.
“If I don’t become a teacher, then at least I will be able to teach my own children. Teachers know so much,” said Aisha.
