ABOUT 60 per cent of out-of-school children in Nigeria live in the northern part of the country; over 71 per cent of these are girls, says the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
UNESCO Regional Director, Mr Benoit Sossou, who revealed this in Abuja, said the UNESCO/UIL Global Monitoring Reports, 2015 had shown that Nigeria is home to over 10.5 million out-of-school children, with majority of them being girls.
Sossou said the report observed that almost one of every three primary school children are out-of-school, and roughly one of every four junior secondary school children are out-of-school.
He said UNESCO is collaborating with Procter & Gamble to accelerate and underpin national efforts to achieve the Education for All (EFA) goals, especially goals 3, 4 and 5 and the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 in Nigeria.
“The project is especially targeted to support 60,000 girls and women to acquire basic literacy, numeracy and lifelong vocational skills for the next three years in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and Rivers State.
“These beneficiaries comprise illiterate girls and women who have never been to school due to one challenge or the other; those that dropped out of school a bit too early before they could acquire any foundational skill; and young girls who are in school but are at risk of dropping out due to poor performance,” he said.
Sossou spoke during the graduation ceremony of 7,500 girls and women non-formal education learners who were the first beneficiaries of the project sponsored by UNESCO in collaboration with Procter & Gamble.
The wife of the vice president, Mrs Oludolapo Osinbajo, who represented the wife of the president, Mrs Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, at the event challenged the private sector to emulate Procter & Gamble in partnering with relevant government agencies in addressing the issue of youth and adult literacy in the country.
While presenting certificates to the graduating non-formal education learners, Mrs Osinbajo underscored the importance of girl-child education as well as women empowerment as integral to achieving the desired growth and development in the country.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, said government is currently developing an Action Plan that would include policies and programmes for increasing access to basic education, increasing female participation at the basic level, improving quality of education infrastructure, fostering technical and vocational education (TVET), enhancing teacher quality and increasing financing.
Malam Adamu was represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Mass Literacy and Adult Education (NMEC), Mr Jubrin Paiko.
He said the Federal Government is committed to implementing innovative strategies to address socio-cultural practices that negate girls’ education in the north.
Source : Nigerian Tribune
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