Rising out-of-school children threat to North’s development — Kaduna gov

The Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, has identified the burgeoning population of out-of-school children in the state and other parts of the Northern region as a great threat to the survival and development of the state and the North in general.

However, Sani pointed out that the government in Kaduna is already taking steps to remedy the situation and address the menace.

According to him, the large number of out-of-school children, including those with disabilities, is a significant challenge to inclusive development.

The governor, who made this known while declaring the Reaching Out-of-School Children (ROOSC) Start-Up Workshop on Monday, listed what his administration has been doing to tackle the problem.

According to him, the Kaduna State Government has identified access to quality education and provision of infrastructure as key challenges of the education sector in the northern states of Nigeria.

“We set out to tackle the key challenges in the educational sector in Kaduna State in six ways: improving access, building and rehabilitating education infrastructure to ensure a conducive learning environment, building the capacity of teachers, harnessing the capacity of ICT to improve access, quality, and management of education, prioritising girl-child education, and strengthening security in the state,” he added.

Governor Sani said that his administration has built 62 new secondary schools, comprising 39 junior and 23 senior secondary schools, across the three senatorial zones to cater to the growing educational needs of the state.

“Recognising the continued demand for quality education, approval has been given for the construction of an additional 50 secondary schools across the state. The procurement process for this ambitious project is currently in its advanced stages.

“Upon completion, these new schools are expected to enrol over 100,000 students, further solidifying Kaduna State’s commitment to providing inclusive and accessible education for all.

“The administration has also constructed 2,326 new classrooms, renovated 707 classrooms, supplied 30,742 two-seater pupils’ furniture, provided 3,704 teachers’ furniture, and constructed 918 VIP cubicle toilets and 51 hand-pump boreholes in schools across the state,” he said.

The governor also said that 2,000 qualified teachers have been recruited, awaiting deployment to these newly completed schools to ensure effective teaching and learning.

The governor noted that the Kaduna State Government has distributed 1,482,816 instructional materials, and trained over 26,000 teachers, headteachers, and school support officers on basic computer skills, classroom management, literacy and numeracy skills, and school management information systems.

READ ALSO:Somalia’s Jubaland leader at odds with Mogadishu wins third term

“The Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority (KSSQAA) has recorded significant achievements in the areas of quality of education and system strengthening, ” Sani said.

“Kaduna State students’ performance improved significantly in the latest NECO SSCE results, with 67% of students achieving five credits and above (including Maths and English), compared to 54% in 2022.”

Meanwhile, the governor lamented that although his administration is making steady progress in improving access to education, infrastructure, and the quality of teaching, the number of children who are out of school remains a major concern to us.

“We are determined to decisively tackle the problem on a larger scale and chart the path to a better future for our poor, vulnerable, and underserved children,” he pledged.

Governor Sani commended the international partners for their support, guidance, and encouragement, especially the Islamic Development Bank, Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Global Partnership for Education, Education Above All, Save the Children International, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Earlier in his welcome address, the State Coordinator of the Reaching Out-of-School Children Project (ROOSC), Ezra Angai, said the project was designed to reduce the number of out-of-school children significantly and build a more equitable education system that leaves no child behind.

Angai explained that the overarching goal of the project is to return 200,000 out-of-school children back to school, train 8,780 SBMC members, train 4,390 teachers, and 112 education officers in data management, build the capacity of 511 officers in planning, budgeting, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL), and reach a total of 1.2 million beneficiaries of teaching and learning materials across the state.

According to him, the project will be implemented around eight strategic components, including: improving access to learning through the construction of 102 new schools and learning centres and the renovation of 170 existing schools to create safe and conducive learning environments; enhancing the quality of learning through Teacher Professional Development (TPD) programs, training, and capacity-building initiatives to ensure high levels of teacher competence and performance; as well as system strengthening by providing support for a fully functional and digitised Education Management Information System (EMIS) and improving institutional capacity, accountability, and discipline across the education sector.

He commended Governor Uba Sani for his unwavering support, passion, and commitment to education and addressing the issue of out-of-school children.

The representatives of the development partners included the Islamic Development Bank, Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Global Partnership for Education, Education Above All, Save the Children International, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

They commended the Kaduna State Government for its commitment to ending the menace of out-of-school children and pledged their commitment to further support in that direction.