UNICEF Advocates Enrollment of 2.1m Children in 12 Northern States 

Francis Sardauna in Katsina 

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has tasked stakeholders in 120 local government areas in 12 Nigerian northern states to ensure that 2,196,865 children have access to education before the end of 2024.

The UNICEF Education Specialist, Azuka Mentiki, stated this during a two-day regional stakeholders meeting on out-of-school children and retention, transition and completion models for Katsina, Kano, Jigawa and Kaduna States.

The meeting, organised by UNICEF, Kano Field Office,  in collaboration with the four states, is aimed at building a collective commitment on how to tackle the menace of out-of-school children in the four North-west states.

Mentiki, while presenting the National Framework of Action on Reducing the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, said the 12 northern states of Katsina, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Adamawa, Gombe, Borno, Yobe and Kebbi should strengthen their educational system to tame the scourge.

She said the states should adopt resolving alternative approaches to improving quality and relevance of learning for out-of-school children and ensure community accountability and mobilisation to address the age-long impediment bedevilling the region.

She added that the states should make use of innovations and technologies to increase access to learning for the out-of-school children and provide adequate funding to finance the education of both boys and girls.

Mentiki said: “Two years ago, UNICEF worked with the Federal Ministry of Education and the Universal Basic Education Commission to develop a National Framework of action on reducing out-of-school children in Nigeria.

“We are now looking into this framework and getting states to develop models to address the high number of out-of-school children in their states. We are focusing on school enrollment, retention, transition and completion of both primary and secondary education.”

One of the participants, Hajiya Mairo Othman, who is the Permanent Secretary Katsina State Ministry for Basic and Secondary Education, said the state government has recruited 7,325 teachers and commenced the construction of three special schools in the state.

On his part, the Kano State Commissioner for Education, Umaru Haruna-Doguwa, said the state government has concluded plans to declare a state of emergency in the education sector in order to address the challenges mitigating against the sector.

The Chairman, Jigawa State Universal Basic Education Board, Prof. Haruna Musa, said the state government was committed to tackling all challenges afflicting the education system in the state.

At the end of the two-day (Thursday-Friday) regional stakeholders meeting, the four participating states of Katsina, Kano, Jigawa and Kaduna, are expected to develop workable models to address the alarming rate of out-of-school children.