In collaboration with the state government, UNICEF, last week, commenced school enrolment campaign in the state to reduce the rate of out-of-school children, put at 265,000.

The programme, which is targeted at making sure that all children of school age and adults who dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancy, cultism and other forms of setback go back to school, has been taken to over 20 communities in the state.

Speaking during the campaign in Etieama community, Nembe Council, UNICEF’s focal person from the state’s ministry of education, Mrs. Azibakanye Anans, said the state had one of the lowest school enrolments in the country.

Out of the 13.2 million out-of-school children in the country, rural communities in the Bayelsa contribute a significant figure, she stressed. Mrs. Anans said the campaign became necessary following the growing number of out-of-school children in the communities and the need to make sure that all children of school age were enrolled.

She urged parents and guardians to exploit the free primary and secondary education policy of the state government to enrol their wards in school.
Calling on community leaders to commit themselves to sanction any parent or guardian who refused to enrol their ward(s) in school, she assured of government’s determination to children’s education.

She equally called on teenagers who dropped out of school to take advantage of the adult education scheme in the state. One of the community leaders, Chief Jeremiah Itemu-Inafodu, said the community was considering sanction for parents/guardians who refused to enrol their children in school.

While thanking UNICEF and the state government for the drive, he assured that community leaders would mobilise to assist in making sure that the campaign achieved it desired result.