Nigeria: Number of out-of-school children reaches 536,132 in Katsina
Francois Sardauna in Katsina
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said yesterday that there were as many as 536,132 out-of-school children in Katsina State.
The international children’s agency explained that the statistics for out-of-school children were revealed by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
UNICEF Education Specialist Kano
Field Office Mr. Muntaka Mukhtar revealed this during a media dialogue on the Girls Education Project 3 (GEP3) funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and implemented by UNICEF.
This data is against the annual school census report released by the Katsina State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBE) 2021 which found that the state has 775,000 out-of-school children in the 34 local government areas.
The report further revealed that Kankara and Kafur LGAs have the highest number of out-of-school children in the state due to banditry and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mukhtar reiterated that one in five out-of-school children in the world are in Nigeria, while 536,132 out-of-school boys and girls are in Katsina State.
The UNICEF education specialist identified poverty, cultural norms, poor infrastructure, violence and fragility as well as child marriage as barriers to girls’ education in the state and in the country in general.
He urged government, parents, community and religious leaders to prioritize girls’ education, saying that better educated women tend to be better informed about nutrition and health care, have less children and later marry.
According to him, “When girls are in school, it improves their sense of psychological well-being, reduces the risk of domestic violence and reduces the risk of under-five mortality and malnutrition in their children.
“This data was not from UNICEF, but from data from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). Girls’ education goes beyond girls’ schooling, it involves s ensuring that girls learn and feel safe in school, and have the opportunity to complete all levels of education and acquire the knowledge and skills needed to compete in the job market.
“It also involves learning the social-emotional and life skills necessary to navigate and adapt to a changing world, make decisions about their own lives, and also contribute to their communities and the world.”
Nigeria: Number of out-of-school children reaches 536,132 in Katsina
Source link Nigeria: Number of out-of-school children reaches 536,132 in Katsina
