The government of Kano State has received advice from UNICEF on how to deal with the 989,234 out-of-school children that are now present in the State.
This is in line with what the organisation indicated, that a large budget for education is necessary, but that once the budget has been approved, the funds must also reach the education sector and be well completed and implemented in order to reduce the likelihood of students dropping out of school.
The UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Ms. Cristian Munduate, revealed this on Thursday during a press conference in Kano. She claimed the state has the highest percentage of out-of-school children, which helps the state rank as having the highest percentage of out-of-school children in the world.
However, she asked the state administration to take a cue from a scheme that was put in place in the North West area within ten years and contributed to the return of around 1.5 million students to the classroom.She suggests that the state government step up its efforts because it has already shown political will to alter the narratives, noting that the state has a higher possibility of changing the course of the nation.
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“We have 900,000 children out of school in Kano State. That requires acceleration. “And we have proven as UNICEF with other stakeholders by supporting the state governments in North West including Kano in sending 1.5 million children back to school. And this happened in 10 years.
“So if Kano has 900,000 children out of school, and we said with this methodology, we brought back 1.5 million to school in 10 years, Kano can accelerate and for instance in some years end off the problem and attain zero out of school.” She added; “Kano can definitely be a game changer for the entire country. Whatever good that happens in Kano is good for the country likewise whatever good that doesn’t happen in Kano has effect on the country.
“We cannot continue to highlight the problems, we need to emphasize that these problems have solutions. And some of these solutions can be done in short time. What we need is political will and that is already expressed with all the authorities whom I met in the school in the state and who expressed that Education is a priority for Kano”.