14-year-old Isa Isubu has a frown permanently etched on his brow. The student of Central Junior Day Secondary School in Buni Yadi, north-east Nigeria, who lives with physical disability, rarely smiles, but all that faded last week when UNICEF, with support from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), provided Isa and his classmates with school bags, books and writing materials to improve their learning outcomes.

A huge smile lit up the teenager’s face and refused to leave. “I thought education was not for my kind of person,’’ said Isa, who has been living with physical disability since birth.

I am happy to be among the recipients of the learning materials because I have never owned a school bag. I had just one book my father bought for me. It gets torn easily and sometimes gets missing. The school bag will help to keep my books safe and clean

To his teachers and members of the School-based Management Committee (SBMC), the teenager’s joy is both contagious and rewarding. Isa once dropped out of school for two years because of armed conflict. When some sense of normalcy returned to Buni Yadi, Isa who is the first of six children, said he had to stay back at home to support his parents. It took the intervention of the SBMC for Isa to return to school.

Isa said the period he was out of school remained one of the darkest seasons of his life.

“I missed my friends and teachers when I dropped out of school. That time, everyone treated me nicely. My friends helped to push my bicycle. It was fun. But I had to help my father. I used to beg for alms in the market every day when I was out of school. I didn’t like it but I had no choice. I am back to school now and I only beg on Fridays,’’ he said.

Children bear the highest brunt of protracted conflict in north-east Nigeria. Across the region, about 1.9m children and adolescents lack access to basic quality education, according to the 2022 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO). With support from GPE, UNICEF is providing conflict-affected children, including those living with disability, with school supplies to improve access to education and address poor learning outcomes.

Now, Isa dreams to become a medical doctor.

“I want to help people living with disability like me. I also want to help my father. He is a labourer and farmer,’’ said Isa.

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