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You're watching UNICEF television.

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Bursting with energy in their white and green uniforms,

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the students at Ndabo Primary School in northern Nigeria

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are having a great time in their physical education class.

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Across the street, 12-year-old Jamila is going door to door,

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selling vegetables.

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It has been four years since she quit school.

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I was in Ndabo Primary School,

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but I dropped out in 2003 when I was in class two.

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I dropped out because I didn't have a school uniform.

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My mother wanted me to work to make some money

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so that hopefully one day we can afford the uniform again.

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Poverty has forced many girls like Jamila

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to leave their education behind in northern Nigeria,

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a country where 40% of school-aged children are not in school.

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Like Jamila, 10-year-old Wasila remembers the shock

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when her parents asked her to drop out a year ago.

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My parents asked me to drop out and work so that I can support them.

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I was not happy and didn't like it,

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so much so that I almost felt I had a fever.

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Fortunately for Wasila, she didn't miss out on school for too long.

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With the $50 million funding provided by the U.K.,

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free learning materials have been distributed by UNICEF

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in more than 700 schools throughout northern Nigeria,

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lifting a big financial burden for many families.

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While she was out of school,

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I heard that her school had gotten instruction materials,

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including books and school bags, and that attracted my attention.

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I decided to send her back to school

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believing that she would get all of these items with no cost to me.

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Through the Girls' Education Project,

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water pumps are being installed in many schools

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as well as separate latrines for boys and girls.

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Teachers also benefit receiving extra training

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to help them provide better education for the children.

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Wasila studies hard and has become the top student in her class.

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She takes her education seriously,

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knowing fully that there are still many girls in Nigeria

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who couldn't afford to give their dreams a second chance.

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In Bakure, northern Nigeria,

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this is Kunle reporting for UNICEF Television.