UNICEF partners media to boost adolescent school enrollment in Sokoto 

BY ANKELI EMMANUEL, Sokoto  –

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has flagged off a 2-day media dialogue on Empowering Adolescent Girls and Young Boys to increase Retention, Transition and Completion of schools in Sokoto

Stating objective of the media dialogue, held at the Pinnacle Hotels, Sokoto, Suleiman Musa from the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) said it is aimed at drawing attentions to the various efforts UNICEF has been doing in collaboration with the state towards touching lives for better.

According to him, the dialogue is also geared towards bringing to the fore the various plans UNICEF has in place for the development of education in particular in the state.

In a goodwill message,
Beatrice Sababa, the Education Officer, UNICEF Sokoto Field Office while stressing on the strategic focus areas of UNICEF said the whole world is still faced with the bitter aftermath of the COVID 19 pandemic, especially as it affects education.

Beatrice who noted that, development of teachers capacity is crucial to quality education, affirmed  that, UNICEF is focusing on access to education for all children regardless of backgrounds.

And to achieve this aim, Beatrice said, building teachers capacity, work together with other sectors like WASH, Child protection, supporting access to education by providing cash transfer programmes for the girl child to be in school and numerous other strategies that help in increasing enrollment, retention, completion and completion of schools for adolescent girls and boys in Nigeria.

While divulging that about 258 million children are out of school globally, Beatrice said 60.5 million of these number are in Africa with Nigeria accounting for the highest.

On the Nigerian situation, Beatrice further submitted that 1 in 3 children are out of school, thus the need to holistically address some of the challenges responsible for the ugly trend.

She further noted that 8 States account for more than half of the out of school children in Nigeria, with Kano leading by 12. 2 percent.

According to her, insecurity, schools safety, domestic responsibilities, lack of live skills and poverty  have been identified as some of the basic reasons behind out of school.

Continuing, Beatrice listed some of the measures UNICEF have suggested for Nigeria, amongst which include, integration of Skills into the current Curriculum to help address the lingering issue of unemployment after completion.

“‘UNICEF in partnership with government is still doing a lot to reduce out of school children in Nigeria. Some of these include, engaging parents to promote continued learning, mentorship, out of school children model, adolescent transition to secondary education, school, safety, alternative learning, inclusive education, advocacy, and community engagement to mention but few”.

Talking from the lessons learnt from their interventions, Beatrice hinted that lots of challenges such as poverty, fears of cultural deprivation, insecurity, lack of jobs responsible for high out of school in Nigeria.

Making presentation on School Security and Safety, Suleiman Musa from Sokoto SUBEB said violence has very negative impact of education in Nigeria as it affects learners, teachers and school community.

Continuing, Suleiman decried that the number of out of school continues to grow because safety and security measures are not adequate in these learning places.

It was therefore recommended that, there should be adequate monitoring, planning, ensure urgent supervision, understand early warning signs and having a security plans for schools in place.