With the closure of schools to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria, the Kebbi state government has introduced classes aired by state television and radio stations. The closure happened a few months before the start of national secondary school final examinations. Yauri, Shanga, and Ngaski are the three Local Government Areas not reachable by television and radio or any form of mass media. The students of these LGAs will therefore have no access to government-organized e-learning classes. Considering this situation, Nana Girls and Women Empowerment Initiative piloted an e-learning that provided opportunities for girls to continue with their lessons, and not to be left behind because of their disadvantaged locations. The e-learning system is a cost-efficient and reliable solution, addressing some obvious problems in our local context like power supply, high cost of e-learning equipment, connectivity problems, and cost of data. The NANA-WVL e-learning lessons targeted SS3 girls in their final year of studies to prepare them for SSCE national examinations. The lessons will cover eight subjects- English, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Economics, Government, and Civic Education. The initiative is funded by Global Affairs Canada under ‘Women’s Voice and Leadership Nigeria’ and is managed by Action Aid Nigeria. UNESCO estimates that more than 1.5 billion students or more than 90% of the world’s students are stuck at home globally because of the closure of schools due to COVID-19. The situation has further exacerbated educational inequality, putting low-income and rural students at a greater disadvantage than their wealthier and urban colleagues. NANA’s attempts to bridge the gap have recorded some successes and challenges. Lessons were learned that will guide NANA in its effort to bridge the gap between students from rich and poor and rural and urban families through e-learning lessons in Sokoto and Kebbi states.

The government is also providing facilities to train students on CBT and ICT and NANA is taking advantage of that to establish E-Learning centers in some female secondary schools to introduce the idea to the students and bring information technology innovations closer to them.