BRIDGE-IDAs Launches Life Skills Education (LSE) Delivery in Dakwa Settlement in Nigeria

The Building Resilience through Inclusive Development and Gender-Responsive Life Skills Education for Internally Displaced Adolescents in Nigeria (BRIDGE-IDAs) project launched its highly anticipated Life Skills Education (LSE) delivery last October, at Tungan Kwasou Junior Secondary School in Dakwa settlement. The initiative represents the first of twelve consecutive sessions planned across three intervention sites, running from October 11, 2025, to December 18, 2025.

Highlights

The twelve-week programme achieved strong participation, with 139 internally displaced adolescents (94%) attending all sessions.

• During the first week, participants received culturally adapted Hausa-translated LSE infographics and writing materials, including exercise books, pens, pencils, and erasers.
• Midway through the programme, the implementation team introduced a point-based financial incentive system to boost attendance and engagement.
• Six representatives from the implementing team attended sessions weekly to observe and ensure quality delivery.
• Participant absences mainly due to illness, religious events, travel, and relocation from the settlement.
• To ensure data accuracy and reduce errors, the team utilized weekly attendance sheets, point-based logs, and facilitator logs incorporated in Kobo Collect.

At the end of the programme, participants received branded school bags, certificates of participation, remaining writing materials, and the remainder of their point-based financial incentives.

Lessons Learned

The twelve-week Dakwa settlement sessions provided several important insights to improve future LSE delivery in other settlements.

• The Hausa-translated infographics resonated well culturally, enabling participants to read content in their local language.
• The point-based financial incentive scheme successfully increased attendance and participation, with parents actively encouraging their children to attend.
• The use of six classrooms created safe spaces for quality learning, while circular seating arrangements and learner-centered approaches enhanced session engagement.
• Facilitators demonstrated improved knowledge of gender-responsive and inclusive  teaching methods and exhibited greater confidence in delivering sessions. 

These lessons will guide implementation at later intervention sites.

The project will collect endline data from week 12, schedule a Study Advisory Group (SAG) meeting to share lessons learned, and begin LSE delivery in Gongola.

For additional background on this programme, read the article on: BRIDGE-IDAs: From Pilot Testing to Community Implementation of Contextualized Life Skills Education