By Awwal Umar Kontagora The Niger State Ministry for Basic Education has called on stakeholders to join forces in a campaign aimed at dras...
By Awwal Umar Kontagora
The Niger State Ministry for Basic Education has called on stakeholders to join forces in a campaign aimed at drastically reducing the alarming number of out-of-school children in the state, currently estimated at over 600,000.
The Commissioner for Basic Education, Hajiya Hadiza Asebe Mohammed, made this appeal during a press conference on the Enrollment Drive Campaign held in collaboration with the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) in Minna, the Niger State capital.
According to the commissioner, the initiative seeks to boost student enrollment at all levels of basic and secondary education. It aims to address low enrollment rates and ensure that every child in the state has access to quality education.
The enrollment drive is scheduled to run from September 10 to 19, 2024, starting at the Emir's Palace in Minna. It will include community sensitization events across the state, including in zonal areas, local government areas, emirates, districts, and door-to-door visitations.
Other activities include the distribution of educational materials and resources to schools, incentives for schools that achieve significant increases in enrollment, and the establishment of a feedback mechanism to address concerns from parents and guardians.
The commissioner noted that in 2024, the state recorded a total of 263,146 out-of-school children, a number that has since surged to 600,000 by 2022. She emphasized that community members, traditional rulers, religious leaders, NGOs, and other stakeholders will be actively engaged to ensure the success of the campaign.
In her remarks, the State Coordinator for AGILE, Hajiya Maimuna Ibrahim Attahiru, highlighted the importance of education, particularly for the girl child. She explained that the World Bank-backed initiative aims to bring out-of-school children, especially girls, back into the education system.
She assured the public of the organization's full support for the campaign’s goals and urged parents, guardians, and caregivers to cooperate by ensuring their children at least complete secondary school education.
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