Sokoto, Nigeria – Each time her curious seven-year-old child returned home from school with homework, 28-year-old Habiba Abubakar knew it was time to take him to her neighbour, whom the child called aunt, even though they were not related by blood, who had been his saviour every time he wanted to stand in front of his class and receive a standing ovation.

But that changed in 2021, when Abubakar enrolled herself in the Women Centre for Continuing Education (WCCE) in Sokoto State, northwest Nigeria.

I’ve always felt ashamed when Muhammad told me that they’ve been given another assignment, she told Al Jazeera.

This frustration, coupled with her enthusiasm for learning English, pushed her to return to the classroom 13 years after she left.

Now, the mother of four said she helps all the children with their assignments.

The interruption in Abibaker’s studies is not uncommon across northern Nigeria, especially in rural communities, where girls are more likely to drop out of school due to cultural practices, such as early marriage, or poverty, which forces parents to make gender-biased decisions by enrolling male children over females.

UNICEF reported that more than half of the girls in the region are not attending school.

Jennifer Agbaji, a social accountability professional and the executive director at Basileia Vulnerable Persons Rights Initiative (BVPRI),a Nigerian nonprofit dedicated to advancing the rights of women, girls, and other vulnerable populations through education and leadership development, viewed the initiative as a positive and necessary intervention.

Nonetheless, she said second-chance education should not be limited to classroom-based learning alone.

If access to education depends solely on physical attendance, many women who face mobility, childcare, economic, health, or security challenges may still be excluded.

How the system works

WCCE, commissioned by the then-military governor of Sokoto State, Navy Ctain Abdul Rasheed Adisa Raji, was founded in 1997 to provide adult education and vocational skills to women in the state.

Since then, Nuraddeen Ladan Dogon Daji, a physics teacher, told Al Jazeera that the centre has trained many students, some of whom now practise professions, such as teaching and nursing, helping to address the country’s shortage of skilled professionals.

Unlike other public schools, where pupils spend six years, the centre designed a three-year curriculum for its primary section, from adult one to three.

In the secondary sections, students spend three years each in the junior and senior levels.

In their final years, they also sit for the mandatory Junior Leaving School Certificate of Education (JLSCE) and Senior School Certificate of Education (SSCE) examinations.

To help these students realise their dreams, the centre also offers free education, benefitting from the state government’s effort to reduce the number of out-of-school children.

This has helped students like Abubakar, who, following her divorce, relied heavily on her father’s support to stay in school.

We used to pay 5,000 naira ($3.5) per term, but were later told to stop because the state government has given us a chance to study for free, Abubakar told Al Jazeera from her home in the Kofar Atiku neighbourhood.

But free tuition does not eliminate all costs. Students still have to pay for transport, books, and other daily expenses.

The challenges

According to Agbaji, beyond poverty and early marriage, there are several structural barriers, including restrictive gender norms that prioritise domestic responsibilities over education.

She said many women lose confidence after years away from formal education, and in some communities, education is still viewed as an investment for boys rather than a lifelong right for women.

In her opinion, these norms often combine to make re-entry into education difficult, even when opportunities exist. In her journey to becoming a nurse, Fatima Attahir, who left school after primary school 12 years ago, found it necessary to go back to the classroom and start afresh.

To support herself while studying, she helps with her family’s trading activities when she is not in class.

She said that although some of her friends already saw the decision as time-consuming, she is not satisfied with the system’s duration.

I wish the primary section was also up to six years, she said.

Because to become a nurse, I need to have a solid background in the core subjects. Some of the students Al Jazeera spoke to said their greatest challenge is juggling academic activities with household responsibilities.

Before her divorce, Abubakar said she would wake up earlier than usual to prepare breakfast, clean the house, and get herself and her children ready for school.

When I finally set my foot in class, I was already tired, and as the lectures went on, I would start slumbering because I hadn’t had enough sleep. She said the pressure became worse when her youngest child frequently fell ill, sometimes forcing her to leave class before lectures ended.

After her divorce, transport costs became another obstacle. Since I was no longer married, my parents were the ones paying for the transport fares, but when they couldn’t, I would not go to school because I couldn’t afford it myself, she said.

Later, her father gave her 10,000 naira to start making and selling local snacks and small chops.

The small business now helps her cover transport costs and other school-related expenses. Abubakar still credits the neighbour who used to help her son with homework before she returned to school.

When transport costs became difficult to afford after her divorce, her parents stepped in when they could, while her father later provided the cital that helped her start a small business and continue her studies.

Her experience is not unique.

Another student, Hafsat Aliyu, said she leaves her two-year-old child with her in-laws whenever she attends classes to avoid disrupting lessons.

Her husband pays for books and other occasional school needs, while she sells local pastries during break time at the centre to earn money for daily transport and personal expenses.

During examination periods, she studies late into the night after completing household chores and putting her children to bed.

My husband does his best, but I thought it was time for me to get a source of income, too, she said.

Now, I pay for my transport and a few other daily needs.

However, the physics teacher, Dogon Daji, said that in his seven years of teaching at the centre, a recurring challenge among students is the pace of learning.

I’ve taught young people, and the level of their understanding is quite different, he said.

But he added that there are still outstanding students among them; one recently won this year’s Usmanu Danfodio Week, an annual quiz competition organised for secondary school students in the state.

On the other hand, the vocational section of the centre, which was designed to equip students with practical skills such as tailoring and so-making, now offers only tailoring.

Students are required to provide tools, such as scissors, including those whose interests may lie in other trades.

The way forward

Agbaji acknowledged that for Nigeria to bridge the gender disparity in education, the country must adopt a lifelong learning framework that recognises education as a continuous right and opportunity.

This requires increased investment in adult education, digital and remote learning platforms, community-based education, and flexible pathways for women who missed formal schooling, because the long-term consequences are significant.

She added that many women pursuing second-chance education continue to balance childcare, household responsibilities, and income-generating activities, often relying on family and community support networks to remain in school.

Educational exclusion perpetuates poverty, limits economic opportunities, increases vulnerability to abuse and exploitation, and restricts women’s participation in governance and public service. It also affects future generations because children of educated mothers are generally more likely to enrol in and complete school, Agbaji clarified.

In a joint warning issued in a bulletin by the Five Eyes alliance, made up of UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand agencies, it warned undercover operatives are using legitimate sites including LinkedIn, Indeed and Upwork to advertise fake analyst jobs.

The blaze erupted early Wednesday at the five-storey guest house in the congested Hauz Rani area of south Delhi. Among the 21 killed, 18 were foreigners from African nations, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and more.

Police had earlier issued a lookout circular against Bajaj and his wife before launching a search operation to trace them. An FIR has been registered under charges of culpable homicide and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, PTI reported.

ALSO READ | Delhi fire: Hotel under scanner, owner detained, 18 foreign nationals killed

Officials said the building had only one entry-exit point, permanently sealed windows and a sensor-operated main door, conditions that are believed to have severely hindered evacuation efforts as the fire spread ridly through the structure.

Investigators have also alleged that the establishment was operating far beyond its proved cacity. According to police sources, the property had permission for only six rooms under Delhi government‘s Bed and Breakfast policy but was allegedly running around 25 rooms, including some in the basement.

Additional floors were reportedly added over the years without obtaining the required provals from authorities.

ALSO READ | ‘No ventilation’ in shaft-like building, chilling esce video: 5 shocking details in Delhi Malviya Nagar fire

Separately, home minister Ashish Sood directed a citywide verification of Bed and Breakfast properties by the Delhi Fire Services and the Power Department.

Chief minister Rekha Gupta said the government was closely monitoring the situation and has sought a detailed report on the incident, while opposition leaders criticised the administration over recurring fire-related tragedies in the national cital.

Police said the investigation remains underway and the role of other individuals associated with the guest house is also being examined.

Rand Halawani’s detention also saw four other women arrested on Tuesday, including a former Palestine player.

Israeli authorities have extended the detention of a player on the Palestinian women’s national football team after she was summoned for questioning in Jerusalem, Palestinian officials have reported.

The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) denounced the prolonged detention of 20-year-old Rand Halawani, who was arrested on Tuesday evening.

In a statement, it said Halawani’s arrest and that of a former national team player was not an isolated incident, it is part of a well-documented pattern of systematic targeting of Palestinian athletes, which continues without accountability.

According to the Palestinian governorate for Jerusalem, an Israeli court on Wednesday extended Halawani’s detention until Friday.

Israel’s military also arrested former national football player Natalie Abu Diyeh, a student at Birzeit University, as well as three other young Palestinian women in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.

The military said in a statement that the four women were suspected of promoting terrorist activities and additional terrorist-related activities.

Birzeit University denounced the arrests as part of Israel’s systematic policies targeting Palestinian education and students’ right to continue their academic journey.

Bishop Imad Haddad of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, to which Natalie Abu Diyeh belonged, called for her release.

We are deeply shocked and horrified by this news, as well as by the news that her family does not yet know where she has been taken, Haddad said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the Prisoners Club, the main association for prisoners’ rights in the Palestinian territories, 89 Palestinian women are currently in Israeli jails, including three minors and three pregnant women.

The Palestinian Authority-affiliated Prisoners Club announced in late May that more than 9,400 Palestinians were in Israeli jails, including Palestinian citizens of Israel.

A video also surfaced, showing occupants jumping out as locals around laid down mattresses for them.

According to residents, the stay was used mostly by people or their families who needed a place to stay while awaiting treatment at Max Hospital nearby. Follow live updates on Delhi fire here.

As stated in an earlier HT report, locals had rushed to save those inside the building, laying mattresses for them. According to a witness, the fire started at the ground floor and soon spread to the upper floor.

“However, all our passports and belongings are inside, and we are worried that those might have been burnt. The building was not well ventilated, as there were no windows, not even in the bathrooms, said Hassan.

“Additionally, the roof was also locked. We were forced to throw brick at windows to break them so that people could jump, said Mohammed Afzal.

However, AK Malik, Chief Fire Officer DFS South Zone, said that seven fire tenders were dispatched after a call was received at 8:50 am, and the deployment increased as more details came in. A total of 37 people were rescued. The fire was extinguished around 10:25 am, and we have completed the final search and cordoned off the building, the official said.

In line with what the locals described, the fire official also said that the building was sealed from all sides and was like a shaft.

“It is sealed from all four sides, as even in the front, there is a facade, and the windows are sealed. In buildings like these, it often hpens that the fire spreads, the chief fire officer added.

The online booking portal for the stay also shows availability of 24 rooms. The property was registered under the silver category of Delhi’s B&B policy, with a license valid till ril 2027.

Meanwhile, a disturbing video showing people jumping out of the building during the fire also surfaced amid claims of the property lacking ventilation and enough windows.