Bauchi state is one of the poorest performing states in Nigeria in areas of girls’ education access rates, dropout and repetition rates, pupil-teacher ratios, the percentage of unqualified teachers, and the number of vulnerable children, including boys, and school infrastructure. According to UNESCO(2023), Nigeria has over 20 million out-of-school children, and 1.2 million of these children are in Bauchi, and a majority of them are girls. Corruption, misappropriation, and underfunding remain the major hindrances to girls’ access to free and compulsory education in Nigeria and Bauchi state. The lack of strong citizen-centric accountability and transparency mechanisms to checkmate education spending has left a wide gap for pervasive corruption and, in turn, led to a decline in the quality of education and a widening gap between girls’ education and boys.
Bauchi state has a State Education Account (SEA), a transparent framework for measuring education expenditures and comparing them to policy directions. The SEA provides a snapshot by gathering information on all spending, from public, private, and donor sources and measures the “financial pulse”, but this is not a citizen-driven initiative, which is what CODE seeks to address by ensuring that government and citizens co-create transparency and accountability framework that allows for citizens to provide oversight functions on government expenditure using the Follow the Money model and also developing a GRESP- Gender Responsive Education Sector Plan.
Fostered collaboration between the government and citizens to implement a transparent and accountable management approach for State Education Accounts.
Enhanced enrollment, retention, completion, and transition rates for girl-child secondary education by addressing traditional and societal barriers through the application of a gender-responsive education framework.
The Girl-Child Education Project (GEP) is a strategic 3-year initiative implemented by Connected Development (CODE) with support from the Malala Fund, aimed at transforming the education landscape in Bauchi State through a strong emphasis on gender equity, transparency, and accountability.
At its core, GEP is committed to ensuring that every girl in Bauchi State has access to, remains in, and completes 12 years of free, high-quality education. The project tackles systemic barriers by promoting gender-responsive education services and infrastructure, creating an enabling environment for girls to thrive academically and socially.
GEP works to align the education sector in Bauchi with Gender-Responsive Education Sector Planning and Budgeting (GRESPB) frameworks. This involves:
A key pillar of the project is its effort to foster collaboration between the government and citizens, promoting a transparent and accountable management of State Education Accounts. This participatory approach strengthens public trust and ensures that education resources are effectively targeted toward improving outcomes for girls. Additionally, GEP aims to raise secondary school enrolment, retention, completion, and transition rates for girls by means of tenacious community engagement and advocacy. It addresses traditional, cultural, and societal barriers by applying a gender-responsive education framework, which ensures that girls are not only present in classrooms but are also supported to succeed and transition through each level of education.
