Stakeholders in the education sector across the four states of North-West region, on Thursday converged on Katsina to deliberate on ways to address the issue of out-of-school children in their states.
The two-day regional stakeholders meeting, which commenced in Katsina, brought together participants from Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa and Kano States.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was organised by UNICEF, Kano Field Office, in collaboration with the four states.
Mrs Azuka Minkiti, an Education Specialist with UNICEF Nigeria, Abuja Office, said the meeting was to look into areas where the participating states needed more interventions on the issues of out-of-school children.
According to her, the meeting is to build a collective commitment on how to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the states, and also improve school enrollment, retention, transition and completion.
She recalled, “Two years ago, UNICEF worked with the Federal Ministry of Education, and Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), to develop a National framework of action on reducing out-of-school children in Nigeria.
“Now we are looking into this framework, and getting states to develop models to address the high number of out-of-school children in their states.
“That’s what we are doing today, and tomorrow, we are going to focus on school enrollment, retention, transition and completion of both primary and secondary education.”
Hajiya Mairo Othman, the Permanent Secretary, Katsina State Ministry for Basic and Secondary Education, said as part of their efforts towards addressing the menace, about 7,300 teachers were recently recruited.
“In order to create new learning spaces in secondary schools, the government, through the AGILE project, is constructing 75 secondary schools across the state, and another 75 is coming in 2025.
“Recently, the foundation for the establishment of one special school in each of the three senatorial zones in the state was laid, with state-of-the-art facilities, to create a suitable learning environment for the children of the less privileged”, she said.
Also, the Kano State Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Umar Haruna-Doguwa said the present administration in the state would soon declare a state of emergency in the education sector.
According to him, as part of their commitment to end out-of-school menace, the state government is trying to integrate the Tsangaya schools into the formal system of education.
Prof. Haruna Musa, the Chairman, Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Jigawa, said the state government has the passion to establish integrated Tsangaya centres, towards addressing the out-of-school children issue.
“We also want the School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) to own those schools, so that they would be able to ensure that the children are going to school,” he said.
Malam Salisu Lawal, the Director, Planning, Kaduna State Ministry for Education, revealed that the state government had received loans and grants to build more schools.
This, he said, was to ensure that children have more access to them, and were provided with quality education.
The participants, including lawmakers and other critical stakeholders, admitted that the rate of out-of-school children in that part of the country was alarming and unacceptable.
They. therefore, agreed, ”There is the need for all the stakeholders to put hands on deck to support the government at all levels, so as to reverse the trend.”
