There’re 2m Out-of-school Children In Borno, Adamawa, Yobe – UNICEF
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, says a total of two million children are currently out of school in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
To this end, the global agency said as a grant agent of the Global Partnership for Education Accelerated Funding GPE-AF, project, it is “supporting two million out-of-school children in northeast Nigeria to enroll in school and access quality learning opportunities”.
“In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the governments of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, and the Global Partnership for Education, UNICEF will strengthen government capacity and enhance the resilience of the education system,” said UNICEF in a statement by its Communications Officer, Safiya Yoba Akau, on Friday.
According to the statement, “The project aims to expand access to education for displaced children, improve teaching and learning quality, and address the ongoing learning crisis in the region.
“Prolonged armed conflict and climate-related disasters in northeast have severely disrupted essential services, including education.
“Fourteen years after the conflict began, children and families continue to face the devastating effects of multiple displacements, loss of livelihoods, poverty, insecurity, and limited access to basic services.
“In these states, 56 per cent of displaced children do not attend school, and only 29 per cent of schools have teachers who meet the minimum qualification standards,” it said.
It explained that, “Building on the successes of a previous GPE-AF intervention, which improved access to formal and non-formal education and learning outcomes for over 180,000 vulnerable children across 24 local government areas, the new project (2024-2025) will aim to ensure more children, especially those displaced by conflict, enroll in and complete school; enhance the quality of teaching and learning through teacher training and provision of learning mater and strengthen education systems to promote equity and resilience.
“UNICEF is grateful for this new funding phase that will guarantee access to education for some of the world’s most disadvantaged children and improve the quality of education services available to them.
“Education is a right for all children, including those affected by conflict, and it should never be denied,” said Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria.
“As the world grapples with competing priorities, the new GPE-AF education funding will help ensure that children affected by conflict in northeast Nigeria are not left behind.
“UNICEF will continue to collaborate with global and local partners, including the governments of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states, to provide access to quality education and strengthen education delivery systems,” she added.
