By Muhammad Amaan
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), said it will be supporting two million out-of-school children in North-East Nigeria to enroll in school and access quality learning opportunities.
The fund said this in a statement issued in Abuja by Mrs Safiya Akau, the Communications Officer on Advocacy, Media and External Relations.
According to the statement, UNICEF will be supporting the children in its role as a grant agent of the Global Partnership for Education Accelerated Funding (GPE-AF) project.
The statement was quoted as saying that “currently, two million children in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states are out of school.
“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.”
The project, however, 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 Nigeria have severely disrupted essential services, including education.
“14 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.”
Mrs Akau also said that UNICEF, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education, the governments of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states, and the Global Partnership for Education, would strengthen government capacity and enhance the resilience of the education system.
The statement also indicated that the project would build 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 which would run from 2024 to 2025 therefore aims 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 materials.
It would also strengthen education systems to promote equity and resilience.
UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, said that the fund was grateful for the new funding phase that would guarantee access to education for some of the world’s most disadvantaged children and improve the quality of education services available to them.
According to her, education is a right for all children, including those affected by conflict, and it should never be denied.
“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.
