EU, UNICEF, Set To Reduce Number Of Out Of School Children In Three States

By Ayodele Oni

As part of initiatives to reduce the number of out of school children, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have announced plan to enroll and skill 1.5 million children, youths, and adolescents across three states.

The benefitting states are Jigawa, Katsina, and Kano.

The Senior Education Manager at UNICEF’s Kano Field Office, Michael Banda, disclosed this during a multi-sectoral meeting of key stakeholders focused on education and youth empowerment projects.

The meeting, held on Wednesday in Kano, highlighted the importance of addressing educational and developmental needs among the younger population.

Banda pointed out that the programme was aimed at increasing the number of girls and boys benefiting from safe, inclusive, relevant learning and skills development opportunities in Kano, Jigawa and Sokoto states.

He said the four-year programme which commenced from October 2023 to August 2027, would cover Kano, Jigawa and Sokoto states.

Banda explained that the programme was aimed at increasing the number of girls and boys benefiting from safe, inclusive, relevant learning and skills development opportunities.

“The programme operation is categorized into three main outputs involving strengthened education governance and learning, expanded access to safe and inclusive learning environment and giving quality, continuous learning and enhanced competencies.”

The education manager pointed out that in Nigeria, many children between seven and 14 could not read or write simple sentence.

“Our aim is for them to get skill that will make them competitive, marketable and self sustaining, to start a business.

“We are also looking at Integrated Qur’anic School because we have Qur’anic schools that do an integrated curriculum which includes literacy and numeracy beyond the religious education.

“We are going to catch everyone, including those who do not have space in the formal school.”

Banda stated further that Kano State has been selected to be one of the top beneficiaries of the newly introduced European Union-funded education and empowerment programme in Nigeria.

According to him, Kano will have the lion share of the project because of its population and the number of out-of-school children.

He said that EU was not only concentrating its resources in Kano, but in Northwest, Northeast and other states in Nigeria.

The UNICEF education manager added that the EU was an all-weather partner for UNICEF and various states in ensuring that all children accessed quality education.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Education, in Kano state,  Umar Doguwa, commended the development partners for the gesture.

He restated the state government’s commitment to invest in education sector.