The United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has advocated safety of schools in Nigeria with a view to encouraging enrollment and surmounting the problem of ‘out-of-school children’ in the country.
The chief of Bauchi Field Office of UNICEF, Mr Tursha Rane made the advocacy in an interview with journalists during the closing of a two-day regional stakeholders’ engagement meeting on the out-of-school children and the retention, transition and completion models in Bauchi, Gombe and Adamawa states held in Gombe.
He stressed that some of the factors that discourage attendance in schools are lack of safety and structures calling on states governments to provide such in order to reduce the number of children out of schools.
Tursha also called on houses of assembly in the three states to pass bills for the reduction of out-of-school children in their various states.
According to him, the meeting was aimed at engaging stakeholders in the three states on the need to expedite efforts on reducing the number of out-of-school children and increase retention, transition, and completion of adolescents in secondary schools.
He added that the meeting would build a collective commitment on creating and implementing models for the reduction of the number of children out of schools in the three states.
Our correspondent reports that participants of the event include; states commissioners of education, members of state houses of assembly committees on education, directors of ministries of education, officials of SUBEBs and traditional leaders, among others.
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