The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said it’s working out modalities to reduce the number of out-of-school children, especially in the northern part of the country to the barest minimum.
The modalities tagged “Thematic Areas” include: building political actors’ support and commitment, alternative multiple and flexible ways of learning, building community accountability, deploying ICT, and lastly financing the out-of-school children which is connected to the first thematic area.
An education specialist with UNICEF, Azuka Menkiti, disclosed this on Friday in Katsina State during a two-day regional stakeholders’ meeting on out-of-school children as well as retention, transition, and completion models with Kano Jigawa, Kaduna, and Katsina states.
Menkiti said the meeting aimed to build collective commitment on how to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the participating states and improve retention, transition, and completion of adolescent boys and girls in secondary education.
According to her, UNICEF had in the two years worked closely with the UBEC and the Federal Ministry of Education to develop a national framework of action on the reduction of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
“And on day two, we are going to be looking at what strategies are we going to develop to ensure that when children come to school, finish primary education they are able to transition to secondary education.
“UNICEF had in the last two years, worked with UBEC and Federal Ministry of Commerce Education to develop a national framework of action on reduction of OOSC in Nigeria.
“We are now simplifying and operationalising this framework and getting states to develop models that are state’s specific that they will use to address the number of children who are missing education in their states.”
The out-of-school children figures show that about eight states in Nigeria contribute to half of the number. Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, and Kaduna are part of the states.
“What’s coming clearly from this meeting is that integration of basic literacy and numeracy skills in Qur’anic schools is very key. It’s not all about schooling but also learning. We are interested in making sure that every Nigerian child will be able to access quality learning programs,” she noted.
On his part, the Kano State Commissioner for Education, Umar Doguwa, described the number of out-of-school children in the North as alarming. However, he said that the government is about to declare a state of emergency in the state.
He blamed government policies, religious beliefs, and cultural reasons as well as poverty for depriving children of going to school.
The commissioner claimed the previous government of Kano State was unconcerned regarding the education of the masses to the extent that one can find a school with only one teacher.
But he said, “The commitment of the current government is total. We are about to declare a state of emergency on education in Kano State.
“We have already set aside, a huge amount of money for furniture and general renovation of infrastructure among others.
“We are going to construct at least 1,000 classrooms, so many furniture and others, we are going to also unfold so many things to overturn the education sector,” Doguwa stated.
Earlier in his remarks, the member representing Musawa Constituency in the Katsina State House of Assembly and Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Lawal Yaro, revealed that the assembly had about two years ago proposed the “Child Rights Protection Act” which guarantees a child unhindered basic education.
The bill which has been passed into law, had according to him, helped in upscaling the children’s school enrollment.
“Policy derive is key to all these issues. Part of these problems is poverty, migration, religion, and culture,” Yaro added.
