Emirs alarmed as UNICEF says only 9% of Bauchi children can read

The six emirs in Bauchi State have expressed concerns as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reeled out data on children with reading skills, which stood at 9 per cent among kids aged 7-14.

According to UNICEF, the State Education Sector Plan indicated that the total number of public primary schools is 3,295, with only 448 Early Childhood Centers (ECD) despite the policy that clearly stated that each primary school should have a functional ECD centre, while the number of Junior Secondary Schools stands at 784.

“All this contributes to the distance of schools from home and the high pupil-classroom ratio,” it said.

The newly posted UNICEF Chief of Field Office Bauchi, Dr. Nuzhat Rafique, while speaking at a one-day community mobilisation and back-to-school campaign taken to the emirs at the Palace of Dr. Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu in Bauchi, said that the learning outcome for children at the basic education level in the country has the worst indicator, especially in the northeast.

She said, “In Bauchi, the early childhood development index indicated that only 26% of children are on track, the foundational reading skills for ages 7-14 stand at 9%, while the foundational numeracy for the same age category stands at 8%.

“Numerous obstacles prevent consistent learning achievement, school attendance, timely enrollment, and completion. Some of these obstacles include inadequate evidence-based policy and planning, limited budget allocation, significant shortages of qualified teachers and classrooms, poor infrastructure, poor teachers’ remuneration, cultural norms, health and safety worries, and dependence on children for income and household tasks.

“The situation calls for a concerted effort by the relevant stakeholders to address these challenges.”

While responding, the Emir of Dass, Alh. Usman Bilyaminu Othman, called for proper monitoring of the state education workforce and infrastructure. The monarch said that many teachers indulge in dereliction of duty while learners are left untaught.

He added: “I have been personally going around in my domain to monitor schools and hospitals. I went to a school, met a few teachers while many of them were absent…I recommended SUBEB to lay them off.”

Also speaking on behalf of the six emirs, the Emir of Bauchi, who is also the Chairman of the Bauchi State Council of Emirs, Dr Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu, commended UNICEF and the State Universal Basic Education Board for recognising the traditional institution as one of the major stakeholders in community mobilisation.

The Emir expressed the commitment of the emirs to champion the enrollment and back-to-school campaign to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the state.