NATIONAL POLICY ON GENDER

IN BASIC EDUCATION

FEDERAL MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

NIGERIA

JANUARY 2006
 NATIONAL POLICY ON GENDER
IN BASIC EDUCATION

For Further Information

Special Education Division,

Basic and Secondary Education Department,
Federal Ministry of Education
Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III
Shehu Shagari Way, Maitama Abuja

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Forward ............................................................................ iii

Acronyms ........................................................................ vi
Introduction ...................................................................... 1
Policy Vision, Goal and Objectives .................................... 6
Guiding Principles ............................................................ 6
Increasing Access to Girls’ Education................................ 8
Retention, Completion and Performance of Girls ............. 12
Resource Mobilization and Sustainability ........................ 15
Research, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation .............. 20
Condition for Success ..................................................... 22
Recommendations .......................................................... 24

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 FOREWORD

The National Gender Policy in Basic Education is the

response to the challenges of achieving gender equality in
education as expressed in the 1999 Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria which states that access to
quality education is the right of every Nigerian child. The
attainment of gender equality is not only seen as an end in
itself, being a human rights issue, but is also a prerequisite
for the achievement of national and international
development goals -Education For All (EFA) and
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targeted by the
year 2015.
.
Elimination of gender disparities in primary and secondary
education, ensuring full and equal access of quality
education for all children is imminent. The Nigerian
Government is committed in building a nation devoid of
discrimination irrespective of gender, physical condition,
geographical location and socio-economic status of
parents, harnessing full potentials of all and guarantying
equal access to political, social and economic wealth
creation opportunities.

Over the years, data and statistics from surveys and

research in developing countries, including Nigeria, have
increasingly suggested that development is a gendered
exercise, impacting differently on women and men, girls
and boys. . Ruling social norms, political and economic
factors endemic in any particular society determine how
development benefits different groups of the society.
Consequently, promotion of the goal of gender equality has
become globally accepted as a strategy for reducing
poverty levels among women and men, improving health
and living standards and enhancing efficiency of public
investments.

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In Nigeria, the entrenched patriarchal social system
translates into male domination and subordination of
women in both private and public spheres, the result of
which is construction and perpetuation of gender inequality.
Women/girls are seen to be more vulnerable to poverty,
cultural and societal vices. Empirical evidences show
gender disparity in enrolment, retention and completion at
all levels- primary, secondary, and tertiary. In 15 northern
states, the disparity in favor of boys is quite high. In the
South-East, where boys drop out and engage in income
generating activities to supplement household income the
disparity is in the favor of girls.

Women education is a road to gender equality and social

justice; it is a key to gender equity, justice, improved skills
and technological knowledge acquisition, improved
nutrition, reproductive health, and economic empowerment.

The Gender policy in Basic Education compliments other

policies like the National Policy on Education, the Universal
Basic Education Policy, Early Child Care Policy and the
National Gender Policy by the Federal Ministry of Women
Affairs and Social Mobilisation. They all advocate acquiring
of basic education as a means to meaningful contribution to
development. The Federal Ministry of Education is the
vehicle for the delivery of this Policy Framework. This will
increase gender sensitivity of all stakeholders and equip
them with strategic skills to drive this initiative down to the
community level for full participation in the implementation
for sustainability.

We will not fail to commend the Girls Education Projects of

our International partners- DFID, UNICEF, NGOs, CSOs,
FBOs, CBOs, etc. It is our collective responsibility to
ensure effective implementation and monitoring. Let us
therefore join hands in mainstreaming gender in all plans

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and actions of Government at all levels of governance
ensuring the elimination of gender disparity.

Dr. Aboki Zhawa, OON

Permanent Secretary,
Federal Ministry of Education.

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ACRONYMS

AGEI African Girls’ Education Initiative

CSACEFA Civil Society Action Coalition on
Education For All
CBUBE Capacity Building for Universal Basic
Education
EFA Education For All
FME Federal Ministry of Education
FMOH Federal Ministry of Health
GEP Girls’ Education Project
LGEAs Local Government Education Authorities
MDG Millennium Development Goals
NDHS National Data on Household Survey
NERDC National Education Research and
Development Council
NFE Non Formal Education
NFE Non Formal Education
NGOs Non Governmental Organizations
SAGEN Strategy for Acceleration of Girls’
Education in Nigeria
SAMEs State Agencies for Mass Education
SBMC School Based Management Committee
SBMC School Based Management Committee
members
SMOEs State Ministries of Education
UNFPA United Nations population fund
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
WEF World Education Forum

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INTRODUCTION:

Nigeria can not afford a situation where half of its

population is not exposed to education which is one of the
guaranteed basic rights of an individual. Educated mothers
guarantee their own survival, well-being and that of their
children.

A gender sensitive policy is one that will ensure gender is

systematically mainstreamed into all components of the
education policy.

Development in all its ramifications can only be guaranteed

by quality basic education. Health and disease prevention,
environmental sustainability, etc cannot be assured when
the entire population is not educated.

The Policy Environment: Policies and standards are

centrally developed, articulated and monitored; while
implementation is done at state level. An appropriate and
conducive policy environment exists in Nigeria for the
implementation of the National Policy on Gender in Basic
Education. Already there are many education policies on
very specific aspects. These include the National Policy on
Education, the Universal Basic Education Policy, an
Integrated Early Child Care and Education Policy, a
National Policy on Women etc. These various policies have
made very broad and far reaching provisions for education
generally in the country. A specific policy that seeks to
integrate gender issues in education can be seen to
complement the various policies in many important
respects.
There is ample political will at the national level and some
states. In demonstration of this Nigeria has signed, ratified
or acceded to some United Nations instruments and also
enacted some regional and domestic laws/conventions and

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is therefore committed to their implementation. These
include:

o UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

o Convention on the elimination of all forms of
Discrimination against women (CEDAW)
o The African Charter on The Right and Welfare of
the African Child (ACRWAC)
o Child Rights Act (CRA)
o The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria -
1999
o Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act

Some Nigerian States have also domesticated the CRA,

while others are in the process of doing so.

In addition to all these, Nigeria is also a signatory to EFA,

MDG, Commonwealth Plan of Action, all goals on gender
equality. She therefore can not afford to be seen to lag
behind other Nations in giving effect to these very important
instruments. The country was unable to meet MDG Goal 3
of gender equality by end of December, 2005. The National
policy on Gender in Basic Education should act as a
vehicle for the attainment of these goals by 2015.

Policy Process: A good policy process is one that clearly

results from mass involvement of key stakeholder in the
design and development of the policy. This National policy
resulted from a baseline study, Research on Gender in
sample states (Borno and Sokoto) in 2005, drafting and
presentation Workshop to a large Stakeholder group at Jos
in January 2006 to review and critique the Gender Policy,
presentation of the Gender Policy to a very broad
stakeholder group (the JCCE with over 500 members). The
JCCE comprise: JCCE Ref. Committee on Basic
Education; Adult & Non-Formal Education; Planning;

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Secondary; Quality Assurance at FCT, April 2006 which
recommended the policy to JCCE Plenary at Makurdi -
August 2006. The JCCE Plenary recommended the draft
policy to the highest Education Policy making body (the
NCE), which approved the policy and got the endorsement
of the Council of State.

The advantages of greater involvement of key stakeholders

include; wider knowledge of the contents and even the
implementation plans of the policy well before it is out,
consensus building on thorny, controversial issues,
fostering ownership, and the potential ability for
implementation and sustainability of the policy.

It should be noted that this policy was developed in the

context of the Girls’ Education Project developed and being
implemented by the FGN, DFID and UNICEF as a
contribution to the pursuit of EFA/UBE. The production of
this framework was preceded by an analysis and workshop
summarized in separate documents.

Gender and geographic disparities in education persist and

Nigeria is not on track for EFA by 2015. According to the
FME Situation Analysis (2006) school enrolment,
progression and completion rates in basic education
(Primary and JSS) are still low with a Net Attendance Ratio
for Primary Education of 60%, (NDHS Ed Data, 2004) and
the Education Data Bank 2004/5 Survey gives a new
estimate for out of school children as: 3.6 million for
primary and 7.2 million for Junior Secondary , meaning that
a total of 11 million children or 35% of school-age children
are still not enrolled in school, National completion rates
are also only just over 50% with 17% of children dropping
out at Primary 6 alone (EMIS, 2005). The 2004 Nigeria
Demographic Household Survey (NDHS) Education Data
shows a gender parity index of 0.86. Geographic

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differences in school attendance ratios are also marked -
as high as 83% in the South West and as low as 42% and
43% in the North West and North East respectively. In the
latter two regions where GEP intervenes only 49% of
primary school age boys and 34% of girls attend primary
school and the majority drop out of school by the end of
Primary 4 (SAGEN/CFSI Baseline 2004).
Beyond this level, the policy includes the following
components:

1) Vision, Goals, and Objectives

2) Guiding Principles
3) Policy Strategies
4) Resource Mobilization and Sustainability
5) Planning, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation.

While such components may vary depending on the policy

documents, they are common components of most policies.
A good gender sensitive policy is one which systematically
addresses gender issues in all components. This would
therefore call for some sensitization skills building on
gender mainstreaming among key stakeholders involved in
the drafting of policies and measures.

1. 0 Guiding Principles

In Conformity with the Nigerian Constitution which

advocates for social justice and equality; the National
Policy of Education, which highlights education as an
instrument for development; the Universal Basic Education
Law which advocates for free and compulsory basic
education; the National Policy on Women which calls for all
Nigerian women to acquire basic education and enjoy the
full benefits of contemporary living and contribute
meaningfully to the development of the country, and to all
other supportive policies and legal provisions before this

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policy, the Gender and Basic Education Policy will be
guided by the following guiding principles:
 A commitment by all stakeholders to gender
equality, social justice and equity
 Greater and more meaningful involvement and
participation of communities and their
representative structures.
 Striving for gender balance at all levels of policy
planning and implementation
 Political commitment and national ownership
 Effective participation among key actors including
private sector, international development agencies,
civil society and communities
 Involvement of religious and traditional leaders as
forerunners, advocates and monitors of policy
 Commitment to free and compulsory Basic
education as a human right to all children
irrespective of gender, at all levels of the system
(federal, state, LGA, community and school)
 Commitment to continuous monitoring and
evaluation based on reliable data for effective
implementation of Gender and Basic Education
Policy
 That the federal and state governments,
acknowledge and exercise responsibility to provide
Nigerians, and especially girls, with adequate
information to ensure enrolment in, retention and
completion of basic education
 That various levels of government in Nigeria
acknowledge and exercise their responsibility to
provide for the basic education and well-being of
pupils especially girls, which shall be fulfilled by the
provision of appropriate gender sensitive, child
friendly school/schooling environments

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 There will be secure environments protecting the
rights of all children irrespective of gender, religion,
and family, social, mental and economic status.
 To re-orientate the public on the proper
understanding of societal norms and values as they
affect the roles of males and females towards
educational development;
 Value re-orientation of the society on gender issues
as they affect basic education
 Integrating affirmative actions in favor of the
marginalized groups
 To provide equal access for boys, girls and Non-
Formal Education learners throughout Nigeria.

2.0 POLICY VISION, GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

2.1 Vision The vision for gender in basic education is to

promote gender sensitivity at all levels in pursuit of the
National Policy on Education (NPE), and the attainment of
EFA and MDGs targets.

2.2. Mission: To ensure gender equity in the delivery of

basic education provision in Nigeria.

2.3 Goal: The goal of the gender in basic Education Policy

is to ensure equal access to basic education and promote
retention, completion and high performance for all pupils –
with the required attention and provisions for the
particularly disadvantaged children especially (often girls)
at the basic education level (i.e. Primary and Junior
Secondary School).

2.4 Guiding Principle: The implementation of the gender

policy in basic education should be premised on the
existing policies as contained in the Nigeria Constitution,
National Policy on Education, the UBE Act, National Policy

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on Women, NEEDS, SEEDS, LEEDS, and other related
instruments.

2.5 Objectives
1. To promote equal access and participation in basic
education through enrollment of all girls and boys
by the year 2015
2. To promote high level of retention, completion and
performance in basic education by the year 2015
3. To advocate the support of all key stakeholders (all
levels of government, international partners, CSOs,
CBOs, private sector etc) in resource mobilization
and partnership
4. To create a favourable environment in support of
planning, management, implementation, and
actualization of the gender policy in basic
education.

Objective 1: Access to Basic Education by Gender

To ensure equal access and participation in basic
education by 2015 for all children in Nigeria especially the
gender that is disadvantaged at any given time and in any
geographical location.

Objective 2: Retention, Completion and Performance

To ensure high levels of retention, completion and basic
innumeracy, literacy and lifeskillls for all children in basic
education in Nigeria by 2015.

Objective 3: Resource mobilization and Sustainability

To promote the support of all key stakeholders (Federal

Government of Nigeria, State Governments, International
Development Agencies, Civil Society Organizations,
Private Sector, School Management Committees and

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Communities, and Individuals) in resource mobilization and
sustainability

Objective 4: Research, Planning, Implementation,

Monitoring and Evaluation

To ensure the creation of an environment favorable to

supportive of policy and planning, management,
implementation, enforcement, review and evaluation of the
gender and education policy throughout the period of this
policy.

3.0 INCREASING GIRLS ACCESS TO EDUCATION

Objective1: Access to Basic Education

In Nigeria overall, girls have lower enrolment rates than
boys in the formal basic education system. This scenario is
much more serious in the Northern states. On the other
hand, some girls enroll in a wide network of non-formal
Islamic education centers in urban and rural settings,
where girls’ enrolments are sometimes relatively higher
than those boys’, (e.g. Islamiya schools in Kano, Borno and
Sokoto). Therefore the Non-Formal Sector must be further
encouraged as an alternative delivery mode to obtain
quality EFA by 2015 and gender equality as soon as
possible. As we already know, equitable access to basic
education by gender is hindered by a combination of
factors which include:

 Lack of Political Commitment

 Poor Planning
 Poor Management
 Gender insensitive instructional materials
 Gender blind curriculum
 Girl-unfriendly school infrastructure
 Skewed Female-Male Teacher Ratios

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 Gender biased attitudes against girls
 Sexual harassment of girls
 Poverty
 Cultural factors
 Erroneous interpretation of religious teaching

Strategies
In order to increase girls’ enrolment in schools, the Federal
Government of Nigeria recommends the following policy
strategies:

3.1 Advocacy and Sensitization

In collaboration with International Development Agencies,
Civil Society, Private Sector and State Governments, the
Federal Government of Nigeria will mount an advocacy
campaign for sensitizing communities on the importance of
girl’s education for the next 5 years. Traditional and
religious leaders will mainly be targeted for them to take a
leading role in the campaign. The use of female role
models from the respective states and communities will
also be encouraged.

3.2 Free and Compulsory Basic Education

The Federal Government of Nigeria embraces and
reaffirms the UBE policy of free and compulsory basic
education for all children, boys and girls, as a fundamental
human right for all citizens and will assist all states in the
enactment and enforcement of the UBE Act.

3.3 Child Friendly School Principles

Through the UBE Act, Government at all levels will support
State Governments to improve the provision of Child/Girl-
Friendly School infrastructures which will be characterized
by among other provisions; adequate and well furnished
classroom blocks, separate toilets for girls and boys, clean
water supply, access to adequate teaching and learning

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materials, fences around the school, community
involvement including mothers in school management,
regular inspection of schools.

3.4 Integration and Mainstreaming Issues

With the view of targeting girls and boys who do not enroll
into formal basic education systems, the Federal
Government of Nigeria and State Governments in
collaboration with International Development Agencies,
Civil Society and Private sector will facilitate the integration
of “western education” in non-formal Islamic education
centers particularly for the Northern States. The Federal
Government of Nigeria encourages State Governments to
support this initiative through among other strategies: the
development of supportive policies, allocation of resources
and advocacy and sensitization of communities. Based on
motivation of pupils and parents as well as academic
readiness, pupils from non-formal Islamic education
centers will also be mainstreamed into formal basic
education system.

3.5 Gender Capacity of the Basic Education Sector

In collaboration with International Development Agencies
and Civil Society the Federal Government of Nigeria will
embark on a massive drive to build the capacity of all
personnel in the Basic Education Sector (Federal Level
including UBE, States) on gender and basic education.
Strategies to be used include workshops for target groups,
policy sensitization briefs, development of gender training
materials for the sector and incorporation of gender issues
in the Teacher Training and In-Service Training Curriculum.

3.6 Gender-Sensitive Education Budgets

In view of the fact that the development of gender sensitive
policies that are not matched by budget allocation usually
fail, the Federal Government of Nigeria will allocate at least

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2% of the Basic education Budget for activities targeted at
increasing girls’ access to education in schools where large
gender gaps exist. In the same vein, the Federal
Government of Nigeria encourages State Universal Basic
Education Boards (SUBEBs) and State Ministries of
Education to allocate a significant proportion of their
education budget towards efforts to increase the access of
the girls to basic education and to develop relevant
supportive policies to this end. The concept of ELP which
talks about planning and prioritizing educational supplies
needs to be incorporated into basic education planning and
budgeting.

3.7 Training and Supply of Female Teachers in Rural

School
The Federal Government of Nigeria encourages State
Governments to design innovative strategies for a massive
drive to recruit and train qualified females from within states
to work as teachers, particularly in rural areas where
teacher deployment is very difficult. Upon completion of
Teacher Training, the graduates will be required to serve a
minimum of one year in rural schools. As a long term
measure, the Federal Government of Nigeria and State
Governments will work towards improving the transport
infrastructure and social amenities to make rural areas
more attractive for female teachers. This will include
construction of good quality teachers’ houses and provision
of safe water, sanitation and access to health facilities.
Other incentives such as: accelerated promotion for those
working in rural areas, higher salaries or stipends for rural
teachers, hardship allowances, transport allowances, safe
and good quality houses, should be encouraged.

3.8 Incentives for Girls

The Federal Government of Nigeria encourages state
governments to provide incentives for female teachers in

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order to increase their deployment in rural schools.
Incentives for increased access of girls in basic education
will include scholarship schemes for girls, provision of free
uniforms and books, provision of sanitary pads for
adolescent girls where distance to school is over 5
kilometers, free good quality boarding facilities for girls.

3.9 Gender Responsive Curriculum

The Federal Government of Nigeria makes it mandatory for
the new editions and new texts that are going to be used in
schools to be censored for gender sensitivity. The Federal
Ministry and State Governments will work out mechanisms
for this. The federal government of Nigeria encourages the
production of books, films and other media products which
depict successful women in positive images. There should
be curriculum reform that caters for strategic gender needs.

4.0 RETENTION, COMPLETION AND

PERFORMANCE OF GIRLS

Objective 2: Retention, Completion and Performance

In Nigeria overall girls have a lower retention rate than boys
in basic education with the girls drop-out rate at primary
school being 17% compared to 15.8% for boys. Even when
girls start school at the same time as boys, they are likely
to drop out before completion. For instance, the national
attendance rates in primary school are 59% for boys and
54% for girls. While relatively low in grade 1-5, drop-out
rates increase at primary 6, indicating that a large number
of students are unable to continue to junior secondary
school. The following are among the factors that contribute
to higher drop-out rates for girls.

 Early Marriages
 Poverty
 Girl Child Labour

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 Opportunity Cost of Education
 Religious Misconceptions and inhibitions
 Low Status of Women
 Distance and inaccessability of schools
 Teenage pregnancy
 Risks of HIV/AIDS
 Sexual abuse and exploitation

Strategies to Address these Concerns

4.1 State Policies and Laws Against Early Marriages
Informed by the Child Rights Act of 2003, the Federal
Government of Nigeria encourages State Governments to
enact and enforce state policies and laws which among
others issues address the following:
 Allow girls who drop out of school due to
pregnancies or other causes to continue with
education
 Prohibit girl-child marriages or child betrothal
 Enforce laws against sexual abuse and exploitation
of children
 Enforce free and compulsory basic education
 Enforce free and compulsory universal basic
education
 Enforce laws against child begging and hawking
during school hours
 Provision of mid-day meal in primary schools
 Implement poverty Alleviation policy

4.2 Girls Scholarship Program for Junior Secondary

“Drop-out rates are high between primary 6 and Junior
Secondary compared to lower grades”. Against this
backdrop, the Federal Government of Nigeria encourages
State Governments in collaboration with other development
partners to consider more scholarship schemes for girls for

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Junior Secondary school. The scholarship could cover
among other provisions; boarding costs, uniforms, books,
small stipends for basic sanitary needs.

Establishing junior secondary schools close to, or attached

to primary schools rather than senior secondary schools, is
suggested in states where there is scarcity of junior
schools.

4.3 Second Chance Education Program

The Federal Government of Nigeria encourages State
Governments to establish Girls’ Second Chance Education
Centers, where girls who dropped out of school can
continue learning academic subjects, as well as specific
technical skills and to provide adequate restructuring of
such facilities including provisions of equipment and of
facilitators’ salaries.

In collaboration with other development partners state

governments are encouraged to work out modalities and
develop guidelines for a school re-entry initiative. State
governments are encouraged to develop relevant policies
and laws governing re-entry and strategies for tracking
school drop-outs.

4.4 Girl Child Encouragement Clubs

The Federal Government of Nigeria encourages State
Governments in collaboration with development partners,
School Based Management Committees (SBMC), and
Parent Teacher Associations (PTA), to establish innovative
Girls’ Encouragement Clubs in schools. These clubs will
focus on: leadership skills, building self-esteem and
improving girls’ performance among other activities.

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4.5 Reproductive Health Education
The Federal Government of Nigeria encourages State
Governments to enforce the teaching of the newly
approved Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education curriculum
for schools, health education and inclusion of gender in the
school curriculum. Government at all levels encouraged to
give special consideration for orphans Vulnerable Children
(OVC).

4.6 Establishment of Boarding Schools

The Federal Government of Nigeria encourages the State
Governments that are characterized by sparsely distributed
populations, poor accessibility and the low enrolments of
girls, to consider providing free boarding schools for girls
that provide a good basic quality environment and
education. In addition, Early Childhood education Centers
should be provided to encourage enrolment and retention.

4.7 Advocacy, Sensitization and Mobilization

Government at all levels and other Stakeholders should
implement effective awareness campaigns to inform,
sensitize and dispel religious misconceptions and cultural
inhibitions against girl’s education in the North and boys’
Education in the South-East.

5.0 RESOURCE MOBILIZATION AND SUSTAINABILITY

Objective 3: Resource mobilization and Sustainability

Good policies that are not supported by adequate sources
of funding are likely to fail in their implementation.
Ownership and participation of all key stakeholders in
policy design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
are the cornerstones required to ensure impact and
sustainability.

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Resource Mobilization
Ensuring that financial input from the government at all
levels into the education sector are steady and that the
share for primary is adequate as planned in the country’s
MTEF is timely released. Education is an expensive social
service and requires adequate financial provisions from all
tiers of government and other development partners,
International Development partners, private sector, civil
society and individuals. As such, the issue of financing the
planning and implementation of projects to address gender
disparities in education should not be the sole responsibility
of government. It is also important to have fiscal discipline
based on proper budgetary system with the involvement of
the community.

The following are policy guidelines for resource

mobilization of resources for implementing the Gender and
Basic Education Policy.

Strategies

5.1 5 Year Strategic Plans for Gender and Basic

Education
Planning in such a way that the strategies to accelerate
and generalize girls’ education are integrated in multi
annual plans. The starting point for the resource
mobilization for the implementation of the Gender and
Basic Education Policy is the development of 5 Year
Strategic plans. In collaboration with International
Development Agencies, Private Sector, and Civil Society,
Religious Leaders, the Federal Ministry of Nigeria and
relevant State Ministries and Departments will develop
gender and basic education 5 year strategic plans. The
strategic plans will be replicated at state and LGA levels.
The Strategic Plans (Federal, State, and LGA) will provide
a framework in which development partners can design

16
their interventions and will also be used as critical tools for
fundraising. The HIV/AIDS sector has such plans which are
regularly reviewed after 5 years. The plans, replicated at all
tiers of government are used for many purposes, which
include fundraising and monitoring progress in
implementation. The strategic plans should be reviewed
every five years.

5.2 Multi-Sources of Funding

International Development Agencies, should accompany
The Federal, State and Local Government Agencies, Civil
Societies, Private Sectors and where possible individuals to
mobilize resources, technical support and participate fully
in the implementation of the gender and basic education
program.

5.3 Gender Sensitive Budgets

The Federal Ministry of Education, State and Local
Government Agencies will define a budgetary line item/s for
programme activities for the implementation of the gender
and basic education program. EFA and UBE plans are to
be reviewed accordingly.

5.4 Working within Gender and Basic Education

Strategic Plans
To avoid confusion in programme implementation, all
Gender and Basic education program implemented in
Federal, State and LGAs supported by International
Development Agencies, Civil Society Organization, Private
Sector or individuals should operate within the Federal,
State and LGA Strategic Plans for Gender and Basic
education and be monitored by the UBE Division and
Department of Planning, Research and Statistics (DPRS)
of the Federal Ministry of Education.

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Sustainability
Sustainability and continuity are important for the success
of any given policy. There is need to build a strong
mechanism for the sustainability of the gender and basic
education program. This should be anchored on
meaningful involvement of all key stakeholders, and the
community. Accountability, transparency and prudent
financial management should be seen as catalyst for
sustainability of the programme

Strategies

5.5 Participation of Key Stakeholders at all Levels of

Policy
The Federal Government of Nigeria encourages the
participation of all key stakeholders; all tiers of government,
Private Sector, Civil Society, International Development
Partners to participate at all levels of policy design,
implementation, monitoring, review and evaluations.
Participation of all key stakeholders is likely to foster
ownership and responsibility and sustainability. For
sustainability of gender focus of the basic education policy,
it recommended that the system of gender focal points be
introduced at all levels in the basic education structures
(DPRS, SUPERB). The capacity of the gender focal points
on gender and basic education will be enhanced for them
to effectively play their role.

5.6 Wide Dissemination of Policy

In view of the fact that most policy documents remain a
privilege of a few, the Federal Government of Nigeria
mandates that the Gender and Basic Education Policy be
widely disseminated in user friendly language and the key
stakeholders sensitized of the contents therein. The
Federal Government of Nigeria encourages State
governments to develop their own versions of state Gender

18
and Basic Education policies guided by the Federal policy
and repackage disseminate the state policy where possible
in major local languages

5.7 Provider Forums

In view of the critical importance of the greater and more
meaningful involvement of communities in fostering a great
sense of ownership and sustainability, the Federal
Government of Nigeria encouraged State Governments to
support the establishment of community management
committees in LGAs for Basic Education and within the
committees to establish sub-committees including those for
gender and basic education. As much as possible the
composition of committees and sub-committees should
strike for a gender balance. Where available Parent
Teacher Associations (PTA) should be strengthened and
new ones formed where there are absent. The PTA and
School Management Board and committees should be
sensitized about the Gender and Basic Education program
and participate in the planning of program for their schools
and communities. School Development plans must be
gender sensitive as well as the constitutions of SBMC.

5.8 Transparency and Accountability of Financial

Management
The Federal Government of Nigeria should mandate
Federal Ministries, State and LGAs to be transparent and
accountable in the implementation of their programme
plan of action for education in general and the pursuit of
equity in particular. They should also share the outcome of
the financial management and implementation progress of
program with all key and relevant stakeholders bi-annually.
Annual audit report should also be submitted.

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6.0 RESEARCH, PLANNING, MONITORING AND
EVALUATION

Objective 4: Research, Planning, Implementation,

Monitoring and Evaluation
In the past, laudable policies have not been implemented
well because good systems for monitoring and evaluation
their implementation were not put in place. Equally so,
financial and human resources for monitoring and
evaluation have not been adequately allocated. The
Federal Ministry of Education is responsible for monitoring
and evaluating the implementation of the Gender and Basic
education Policy. To this end, the following strategies will
be employed.

Strategies

6.1 Planning for Policy Implementation

Nigeria will take a leading role in Africa in the development
of long- term strategic plans for the implementing of the
gender and basic education policy as has done in the
HIV/AIDS sector. Existence of such plans can allow for
more development players to come to the table and
contribute towards the achievement of the federal, states
and LGA plans.

6.2 Monitoring and Evaluation Framework

In addition to the general monitoring indicators for Basic
education, specific indicators for the evaluation of the
Gender and Basic Education Policy shall be developed. In
collaboration with International Development Partners, and
other funding partners, the Federal Ministry of Education
will engage consultants to develop solid indicators which
will be used to track progress on implementation of the
Gender and Basic Education Policy.

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6.3 Gender Capacity for Basic Education Inspectorate
In collaboration with International Development Agencies,
private sector and civil society, the Federal Government of
Nigeria will build the gender capacity of Basic Education
inspectorate bodies which include but are not limited to:
 Federal Inspectorate Services
 State Inspectorate
 UBE
Among other skills the inspectorate will be sensitized on
gender issues in Basic education, familiarization on gender
sensitive indicators for basic education, Child/Girl Friendly
Principles, gender sensitive budgeting, and gender
sensitive monitoring and evaluation. Inspection schedules
will ensure that gender disaggregated data is collected
during inspection and remedial actions are taken to
address gender imbalances.

6.4 Annual Policy Review Meetings

The Federal Ministry of Education will coordinate annual
joint review meetings to evaluate the degree to which key
components of the Gender and Basic Education Policy are
being implemented. The joint policy review meetings will
include among others: Relevant Federal, State, LGA staff,
private sector representatives, civil society and
international development agencies. The Federal Ministry
of Education will therefore have a line budget item for
annual policy review meetings. The Education Provider
Forums will continue to play an important role in the
planning and monitoring of progress in the implementation
of projects in this sector.

6.5 In-Built M&E in Project Designs

All institutions engaged in the implementation of gender
and basic education activities, shall ensure effective
monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are built into project
or programme designs. Institutions are expected to commit

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a minimum of 5% of project budgets to facilitate monitoring
and evaluation. Community level sensitization on gender
issues including monitoring and evaluation of these
projects will be encouraged in all communities.

6.6 Impact Studies

All institutions implementing projects in this field are
encouraged to conduct impact studies on their gender and
basic education interventions. They are also encouraged
to share such studies with the Federal Ministry of
Education who is responsible for national level planning
and M&E for the policy.

6.7 Mid-Term Reviews and 5 Yearly Evaluations

In collaboration with development partners, the Federal
Ministry of Education will conduct Mid-Term Policy Reviews
at the two and half year mark and an evaluation of the
policy at the 5 year period mark. The Federal Ministry of
Education will therefore have a line budget item for
engaging consultants (local and international) to undertake
such studies.

7.0 CONDITION FOR SUCCESS

A number of key factors are decisive conditions to put into

place if any policy bound to help accelerate girls’ education
is to succeed and they include:

 Consistent political will and commitment- serious

and consistent advocacy and Mobilization at
leadership level.
 Institutionalizing transparency and accountability in
all spheres of our national economy and especially
the educational sector.
 Creation and strengthening of partnerships at all
levels of the system and among all stakeholders

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 (Providing enabling environment for Development
Partners to give technical supports in the
management of schools and NGOs and Faith
Based Organizations to establish schools.)
 Addressing poverty issues that will make basic
education really free.
 Maintaining and expanding the multisectoral nature
of the interventions especially as regards child
friendly schooling.
 Continuing and maintaining at an adequate level
IDPs’ support of those conditions and maintaining
commitment as stated in the IDP’s paper as follows:
 Through financial and technical assistance support,
contribute substantially to the strengthening of
analytical capacity, to undertake the preparation
and implementation of a high-quality Education
Sector plan and EFA and UBE Action plans.
 Based on the activities identified in the plan, provide
financial and catalytic assistance for key areas to
achieve Education for All through the UNICEF/DFID
GEP Project, World Bank Assisted Projects, etc.
 Work closely with the national and state leadership
in education for donor supported activities.
 Work closely with all stakeholders in education,
including parents, children, teachers, civil society
organizations, the academic community, as well as
government at all levels.
 Participate in and support joint planning activities
towards the development, implementation,
monitoring, evaluation, and reviews of education
sector plans of EFA, MDGs, and UBE.

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8.0 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER SUPPORTIVE
ACTION:

 Conduct state audit on the degree to which the

Child Rights Act of 2003 is implemented highlighting
strategies for enforcement and challenges
encountered at state level implementation. Any
variation in state level implementation should be
highlighted s well.
 There is need to enhance gender capacity among
all key stakeholders in basic education at state level
in order to increase the possibility of effective
implementation of the proposed gender and basic
education policy. Gender sensitization of
communities on pertinent issues in basic education
is an important component of policy implementation.
 Informed by challenges for effective implementation
of previous education policies in Nigeria, it is
strongly recommended that resources be mobilized
for an effective implementation, monitoring and
evaluation of the gender and basic education policy.

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