UNICEF revives Kwara partnership, introduces NLP.

Kwara State Government and The United Nations Fund (UNICEF) revive collaboration, and launch Nigeria Learning Passport Initiative.

The renewed partnership marks a 13-year reunion between the state government and the global organization.

The NLP online platform bridges educational gaps in Nigeria by providing ongoing access to quality learning for out-of-school learners, students needing additional help, and children in areas with limited technology or school resources.

At the Ilorin launch event, Gerida Birukila, UNICEF’s Kaduna Field Office Chief, announced the revival of a partnership between UNICEF and Kwara State, focusing on education.

Represented by the Education Officer, UNICEF Kaduna Field Office, Bala Dada, the UNICEF boss said that Kwara is the 20th state to launch the NLP and to join the global movement of reimagining education.

“With the support of Microsoft, GPE, Airtel, HIS towers and TECHNO, this partnership will build the capacity of 3,000 teachers on digital literacy skills to deliver quality basic education to 120,000 children in Kwara state within one year (teacher-pupil ratio 1:40), providing greater access to reduce the number of out of school children (OOSC) and increase literacy and numeracy,” she said.

According to her, “The Learning Passport was created globally by UNICEF and Microsoft at a time when education experienced unprecedented disruption due to COVID-19. At the height of the pandemic, 1.6 billion learners were locked out of the education system.

“Since 2022, the project has enrolled 1,478,984 students. Learning passport is available for free on online, mobile, and through offline devices. We are working with Airtel and IS to bridge the data and connectivity gaps. If you have an Airtel sim card, the NLP can be used without data costs.”

UNICEF commended Kwara State on its investment in the education sector across all levels.

“UNICEF is happy to note that The Kwara Education Transformation Agenda (KWETA) has put digital education at the fore of her education programmes with interventions like the StudyLab, KwaraLearn and Digital Learning centres. You have continued to play an exemplary role in ensuring that children have access to quality education, even in the face of major challenges,” she added.

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, represented by Secretary to the State Government Mamman Jibril, pledged his administration’s commitment to supporting policies and initiatives that drive rapid educational progress in the state.

Having addressed the legacy issues of unpaid salaries and subpar learning conditions, the governor’s administration is now focused on enhancing the quality of education through a unified curriculum, motivated staff, and technology-driven solutions that promote accountability and modern teaching methods.

“Along with massive investments in the establishment of digital literacy centres across the state in collaboration with the UBEC, I am happy to say that our strategy has drastically improved literacy and numeracy levels, raised enrolment of learners in the state, and reduced the rate of out of school children,” Mr AbdulRazaq added.

UNICEF is a global organisation working to improve the lives of children and their families, with a focus on emergency response, education, healthcare, and child protection.