The Taraba State government has announced its decision to pay a one-time N50,000 medical allowance, a N25,000 accommodation allowance per term, and a monthly N10,000 to members of the National Youth Service Corps in the state.
The Federal Government currently pays NYSC members a N33,000 monthly allowance in line with the minimum wage signed into law by President Buhari on April 18, 2019.
This was contained in a press statement by the Commissioner for Information and Reorientation, Zainab Usman, yesterday.
She said: “As an emergency response to the education situation, the governor has approved significant allowances for NYSC members serving in Taraba State schools.
“An additional N10,000 will be added to their monthly allowance. A one-time payment of N50,000 as medical allowance. An accommodation allowance of N25,000 per term, totaling N75,000 for three terms.”
Exceptional corps members “who distinguish themselves while serving in schools will be offered automatic employment opportunities,” the statement said
The commissioner also said other measures were being introduced to ensure transparency in the enrollment and teaching process in Taraba.
According to him, the surge in new enrollments witnessed in both primary and secondary schools over the past 10 working days has necessitated immediate action.
“Commencing this term, an ICT-based registration system will be introduced. This will apply to teachers and both new and returning students. Ensuring that they are registered will guarantee the provision of essential school materials upon their arrival,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, more than 50 per cent of girls in Nigeria are not attending school at the basic education level, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said.
Jutaro Sakamoto, education manager at UNICEF disclosed this in Abuja at the education conference organised by the French Institute in Nigeria at the weekend.
He said 7.6 million girls were out of school in Nigeria – 3.9million at the primary and 3.7 million at the junior secondary level.
Sakamoto also said 48 per cent of out-of-school girls were in the North West and North East, adding that gender parity in net attendance ratio was below 1.0 in 10 states, primarily in the North, but is decreasing in 15 states.
According to him, nine per cent of the poorest girls attend secondary school, compared to 81 per cent from the richest quintile.
While lamenting that Nigeria accounts for 15 per cent of out of school children globally, Sakamoto said, “If we can’t address the situation in Nigeria, we can’t solve the situation in the world.”
He said those who going to school were not being taught well as a result of lack of facilities, adding that UNICEF’s Education Opportunity for Out of School Children (OOSC) project had been able to make some impact.
