EU to assist Borno revamp education with €20 million

The European Union has said it will assist the Borno State Government with €20m, approximately N8bn, to revamp its educational sector.

The state, the worst affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, had its educational system crippled for about two years as scores of teachers were killed by terrorists, leaving primary and secondary schools closed.

At the launch of new programme of support for education in the state on Friday, the Eu said that over 150,000 children and 2,500 teachers would directly benefit from the two projects being funded in the state.

It said that the projects were aimed at providing immediate educational services and strengthening the educational system in the state.

It said the projects would expand and deepen the already extensive EU humanitarian and development assistance to the victims of violence and displacement in Nigeria’s North-East while addressing some of the underlying drivers of violent extremism in Nigeria.

A statement by the international organisation on Friday read in part, “This intervention has been designed to build on EU’s Education in Emergencies Support to North-East Nigeria, but (it will) go beyond provision of immediate services to strengthen service quality and delivery, to help increase learning outcomes for girls and boys in the longer term.”