They Spent Years in Nigeria’s Gold Mines. Now, These Girls Are Returning to School.

CHANCHAGA, Nigeria – Two years ago, Aisha Yunusa lived a life far from classrooms and textbooks. Like many children in this gold mining community in Niger State, she toiled daily in the mines, searching for gold particles in the unforgiving earth to help her family survive.

As More to Her Story reported earlier this year, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has an estimated 18.3 million children out of school, many of them girls working in the country's gold mines. Now, new reporting reveals signs of hope, thanks to the growing efforts of nonprofits, government initiatives and local advocates determined to get girls back into school.

In Aisha’s case, she dropped out of junior secondary school in 2021 when she was 14 years old after the sudden death of her father. Her mother, unable to afford school fees, leaned on Aisha, the oldest child, to help with the family’s finances. Aisha started work at the local mines, walking miles each day with other children to dig for gold.

“It was hard and dangerous, excavating the ground in search of gold particles, which you can’t find all the time,” Aisha told More to Her Story. When she found gold, she sold it and used the money to support her family.  

When the work was good, she earned about 10,000 naira, or about $6.50, weekly, but many more weeks yielded nothing. “I was exhausted using the shovel to dig through hard craters,” she said. 

Still, watching other children walk home from school reignited her dream: to study medicine and become a doctor. According to local data, an estimated 42.8 percent of youth have dropped out of school in Niger State, with girls hit the hardest.

 “At times, I wanted to return to school, but who would take care of my school fees?” Aisha said, in tears. 

Then, two years ago, Aisha’s dream found new life. The Rose of Sharon Foundation, a nonprofit based in Lagos, Nigeria, had expanded its Bridge of Hope Scholarship Program to Niger State to help orphans and vulnerable children return to school. The organization worked with local leaders and community networks to identify out-of-school girls.

When Aisha heard the program supported girls her age, she immediately enrolled. 

Her first day returning to school, Aisha felt excited and nervous, expecting her teachers and classmates to laugh at her. But she felt joy, looking in the mirror and seeing herself in the school uniform.

In the village of Shata, Perpetual Lumi, now 19, lost her parents in 2016 when she was 10. Her grandfather brought her siblings and her from the village to his home in the state capital of Minna in Niger State. 

Perpetual often helped her grandparents with their farming, while going to school, but then she had to drop out in sixth grade when her grandfather retired and couldn’t afford the school fees. 

“After leaving school, my dream of becoming a nurse was uncertain, but I remained hopeful for the best,” Perpetual told More to Her Story. 

In 2018, Perpetual’s dream came alive when Abdulmalik Abduljalil Adinoyi, North Central coordinator of the Rose of Sharon Foundation, visited her grandparent’s home and shared details of a scholarship they were awarding her. 

She enrolled in New Life Academy, a private secondary school. Since then, Rose of Sharon Foundation paid her school fees and awarded her a monthly stipend.

“The scholarship is a boost to Perpetual's dream of wearing a white lab coat and giving back through community medical outreaches,” Victor Paul, her guardian, told More to Her Story.

Now, Perpetual is a second-year student at the Delight College of Science and Health Technology in Niger State, on the road to fulfilling her life’s dream of becoming a nurse.  

Nicholas Abu, an account officer at the college, said she is an excellent student. He hails her passion and focus, despite the losses she faced as a child.

Abu said it is critical “to prioritize education of the girl child to stem their vulnerability to societal pressures and harmful social influences.” 

He also emphasized the importance of positive adult mentors and organizations that encourage girls to leave the streets and mines and integrate back into classrooms.

Experts point to cultural norms, religious beliefs and economic hardship as key barriers to girls’ education in northern Nigeria. While parents often prioritize educating boys, girls are expected to marry early or contribute to the household income by joining the workforce. Girls often end up in a cycle of despair, unable to break societal barriers for economic progress or make informed decisions because they have been denied access to education. Too many parents undervalue educating girls, setting their daughters up for sexual and economic exploitation and abuse as cheap labor in society. 

Experts say parents often pull their daughters from school because of poverty, conflicts, financial constraints, a preference for Arabic-based education, rather than English, parental discord, the death of parents and community influence and practices. 

Still, education remains a legal right for every child in Nigeria. In 2003, the government established legal frameworks, such as the Child Rights Act, which guarantees free and compulsory education; however, implementation remains a challenge. Although 34 of Nigeria’s 36 states have adopted the Child Rights Act, education advocates say the law is often neglected in practice.

The Niger state government allocates more than 50 percent of its 2024 budget to education and health, but critics say government officials don’t do enough to make sure all children get access to education.

Despite strong policies and child rights acts promoting education, weak enforcement often undermines their impact. Many of these policies end up gathering dust on shelves. Goal 4 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals calls for inclusive and equitable quality education, yet implementation remains inconsistent.

Some Nigerian states have domesticated the policy of free and compulsory education at the primary and junior secondary levels under the Universal Basic Education Act of 2004. This legislation provides a critical foundation for child education. The act allocates two percent of Nigeria’s Consolidated Revenue Fund annually to the Universal Basic Education Commission, but these funds are not always utilized effectively.

Although Nigeria is a signatory to the program, government commitment to implementing it — particularly for the benefit of vulnerable girls — remains poor. 

“The role of government goes beyond establishing policies but also enforcing them,” said Adinoyi, the staff official at the Rose of Sharon Foundation.

While the evidence clearly shows that investing in girls' education is critical for the development of every nation, many people still don’t believe it, and organizations throughout Africa are working hard to educate the public and policy makers about the value of girls’ education.

In Gambia, the SaGG Foundation sponsors an initiative, “Sponsor a Gambian Girl,” that harkens an African saying, “When you educate a girl, you educate a nation.”

In Zimbabwe, Angeline Murimirwa won a scholarship in the 1990s from a nonprofit, CAMFED — “Campaign for Female Education” — that she today runs as chief executive officer, educating policy makers on the idea that educating girls reduces illiteracy, delays early marriage and empower girls to contribute to national development. Earlier this year, TIME magazine recognized her in its list of 100 most influential people in the world.

In Nigeria, the Rose of Sharon Foundation is tapping its Bridge of Hope scholarship program to integrate children back into the classroom. At its project site in Niger State, Adinoyi, the group’s North Central zonal coordinator, told More to Her Story that the nonprofit has educated 11 girls in the region since expanding its scholarship program to Niger State in 2018. 

The scholarships cover school fees and a monthly stipend. The initiative also pays for “moral” classes, uniforms, books, textbooks, excursions, and graduation ceremonies for girls in primary and secondary schools.

 “Out-of-school children are found everywhere. There is no community where you go where you won’t find out-of-school children," Adinoyi said. 

Integrating children back into school is sometimes challenging because of pushback from parents, who don’t like seeing their children repeat grades because they’ve been out of school so long. It may be “demoralizing and frustrating for the child” to repeat a grade, Adinoyi said.

Teachers assess the girls’ academic performance through termly reports. Community volunteers follow up on the girls’ school attendance and ensure they complete their assignments. Counselors provide support to encourage the girls to stay engaged in school. Records show that the girls have significantly improved their performance, with many now topping their classes.

“The excellent performance of the girls is an indication of the inspiring impact of the program.” Adinoyi said.

Local schools like Ab Tech International School help keep girls in the classroom. Israel Chukwuma, the head teacher at Ab Tech International School, said school officials investigate the main reasons for each child’s dropout as part of its efforts to help out-of-school children return to the classroom, particularly those who had previously performed well and whose fees were consistently paid. If a parent or guardian has passed away, they place the child on a scholarship. When a family member is willing to contribute, they accept partial payment and provide additional support, such as meals, to encourage the child’s return to school.

To reintegrate out-of-school children, experts recommend the government introduce stricter policies and penalties to compel parents to send their children to school. “In any society where there is no caution to parents, as regards ensuring their children stay in school, they feel much more relaxed,” Chukwuma said.

He also calls for campaigns to educate parents and guardians about the importance of education and the long-term consequences of school dropout on families and society. Building a strong support system for girls’ education at all levels is essential to reducing dropout rates, he said.

Amina John, a human rights advocate in Minna, applauded the efforts of groups like Rose of Sharon Foundation for taking girls off the streets and out of the mines and back to school. She emphasized the role of education in breaking the cycle of poverty, trauma and gender inequality that so many girls face. 

“The reintegration of the girls into the classroom must take cognizance in addressing the psychological and emotional trauma they have been through while away from school,” John said. 

Girls who suffered abuse or the death of their parents should be offered additional support and mentorship, she said, calling on community leaders, parents and policymakers to prioritize the education of girls. 

Back in school, Aisha is rewriting her story. She is now catching up on her favorite subject – biology – and is back on the path to becoming a doctor. 

“Education truly gives me a future,” Aisha said, with a wide smile.