In an effort to eradicate the menace of out-of-school children in Nigeria, UNICEF has engaged media executives to amplify and advocate increased enrollment and retention of children in school.
Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, Social and Behavioral Change Specialist, UNICEF Kaduna Field Office, said the roundtable meeting with media executives was to raise awareness about out-of-school children, its causes and the need for increased investment in education.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the one-day meeting which was organised on Thursday, in Zaria in Zaria, Kaduna State, brought together media executives from various media organisations.
Mohammed said part of the priority of the country programme of UNICEF was to reduce out-of-school children to the barest minimum.
“The target and end result of this meeting was to ensure that every Nigerian kid is enrolled in school and the meeting also wants to ensure that those that were in the schools were retained.
“This is to ensure sustainable growth of the country,’’ he said.
Ibrahim added that UNICEF’s plan is to ensure that the number of out-of-school children is drastically reduced in its next country programme.
He, therefore, appealed to the participants to propagate the gospel of reducing out- of-school children to the key stakeholders in the sector.
Mohammed also tasked the participants to ensure an open defecation- free communities and ensure that kids do not miss immunizations.
He added that another vital area of support is to also ensure that birth registration of children is sustained, as well as eradication of stunting and other malnutrition challenges in children.
Mohammed added that UNICEF would continue to partner with the government to complement funding support for education and health.
“In the area of funding gaps, UNICEF would continue to advocate the betterment of children in these areas across Nigeria,’’ he said.
Malam Salisu Lawal, Director, Planning, Ministry of Education, Kaduna State said the state government is recording successes in its effort at increasing the enrollment and retention of children in schools.
He, however, warned that there are still challenges impeding the education of children in the State, explaining that the state still has many children who have not been not enrolled.
According to him, ignorance fueled by endemic poverty has resulted in a non-completion-of-school syndrome among a lot of the state’s school-age children.
But he assured that the Kaduna State Ministry of Education is working round the clock to address these challenges.
“Part of the aim of this workshop is to engage the media so that they can understand our progress and challenges to enable us to collectively subscribe to addressing the challenge,’’ he said.
Alhaji Hamisu Abubakar , Director, National Orientation Agency (NOA) Kaduna State Office, urged the media to play its critical role of enhancing child’s rights initiatives, promoting education and reducing the number of out-of-school children.
A participant, Alhaji Bashir Rabe-Mani, Zonal Manager, NAN Kaduna Zone, restated the commitment of the agency to projecting most of the issues raised in its reportage.
He added that NAN already has dedicated desks for reporting health and gender, education, agriculture and environmental issues, among others.
He, therefore, commended UNICEF for gathering media executives to brainstorm to bolster the future of the Nigerian child.
Rabe-Mani added that the workshop would build capacity, strengthen networking and boost national development.
