Sakina was lucky to be able to pursue her education

March 2011: Sakina* is 15 and lives in Sangara, a village in Tillaberi / Niger. Her family is poor. Sakina didn’t make it into college, but thanks to Plan’s second chance school, the girl managed to obtain her primary school certificate and continued to college. What’s more: she’s one of the high achievers in secondary school and a motivation to others.

Supporting girls

Sakina was lucky: in most cases girls who fail primary school finish schooling to help their mothers with the household or petty trading. In Niger, girls marry young, reducing their chances to pursue their learning.

Sakina was determined to turn things around for herself. She started learning and her good academic performance enabled her to return to formal education by passing the primary school leaving examinations.

"She was among one of the best students because she had a will to learn. She was also the most attentive and participatory pupil,” said Sakina’s second chance teacher proud of her results and behaviour.

Behavioural change

In a country where many parents are illiterate and little value is attributed to girls’ schooling, lack of parental support contributes greatly to children’s under-performance at school.

"My parents were proud of me when I received my certificate of primary education. This support has motivated me to work and be the pride of the second chance school in Sangara,” said Sakina explaining how crucial parental support is to help children to succeed.

A community effort benefitting particularly girls

She’s also one of the high achievers in secondary school and is the pride of her parents and the community

Plan’s second chance schools aim to reintegrate school leavers and children who were never enrolled in formal education. In second chance schools children learn reading, writing, mathematics, firstly in their native language and then in French. The only criterion for entering into a second chance school is pupils’ motivation and acceptance of school rules.

The teachers are volunteers selected by the community. Community members support them with in-kind remuneration in form of food, crops and help on their fields on top of a small salary they receive.

Classes are held 5 days a week; during the rice harvest they take place only in the afternoons. To fill the gap children come to school on Saturday.

Niger has one of the lowest school enrolment rates in the world due to the poor education system. Plan Niger facilitated the establishment of 25 second chance schools in the department of Dosso and Tillaberi. The Tillaberi schools host 221 students, 141 of them girls.

Read more about Plan's work in Niger.

* Name changed for child protection reasons