Community Aid Connect (CAC) has launched the Digital and Remote Access School Instruction (DARASI) Programme, an education pilot initiative aimed at addressing the challenge of out-of-school children in Kano State, with a focus on the girl child.
The three-day programme was held on Dec. 23, 28 and 29 at the State Agency for Mass Literacy, Gworan Dutse Women Centre, bringing together key stakeholders and education practitioners for the rollout of the initiative.
Speaking at the event, CAC State Team Lead, Mr Surajo Mahe Alkali, said the launch featured a capacity-building session to train 25 facilitators who would implement the programme at the community level.
“The DARASI project is being implemented in partnership with the Kano State Government through the Office of the Governor’s Adviser on Educational Reforms, Malam Haladu Muhammad, and the Kano State Agency for Mass Education, with support from the UK Government through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO),” Alkali said.
He explained that the objective of the programme was to provide structured learning opportunities for children who were currently outside the formal school system.
“Kano State remains one of the states with a high number of out-of-school children, and this project is designed to help bridge that gap, especially for girls,” he said.
Alkali added that for the pilot phase, 200 learning centres had been selected across 30 local government areas out of the state’s 44 LGAs.
Also speaking, a trainer from Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education, Dr Nafisa Tajuddeen, said the four-month pilot phase would reach about 8,000 learners.
“Girls will account for 50 per cent of the beneficiaries targeted under this pilot programme,” Tajuddeen said.
She noted that the DARASI Programme builds on the success of CAC’s Radio Schools Programme, which has reached over 120,000 out-of-school children across Northern Nigeria.
According to her, DARASI represents the pilot implementation of Level 1 of Nigeria’s Accelerated Basic Education Programme (ABEP), approved in August 2025.
“The programme is designed to strengthen foundational literacy and numeracy skills and to support the transition of learners into the formal school system,” she said.
DARASI is being implemented by Community Aid Connect in partnership with the Kano State Government through the State Out-of-School Children Education Initiative Committee, with support from FCDO.
