The United Nations Children Funds (UNICEF) has expressed happiness over the increase in pupils’ enrollment in public schools in Katsina State in 2018.
The UNICEF Chief of Education in Nigeria, Mr Terry Durnnian, made the remark on Wednesday in Katsina during a media briefing.
“I am happy to see changes at school level; I had opportunity to visit some schools where I had discussions with community members, parents and interacted with children and teachers.
“I asked them what the issues were; what was working and what was not working so well.
“From the discussions, enrollment is increasing in Katsina schools, I appreciate the efforts of the Schools Basic Management Committee (SBMC) in that direction.
“There is also a great increase in girls’ enrollment, but that brings another issue which is about the number of students in a classroom, there are instances where over 70 students are found in one classroom,’’ he said.
He further advised that factors such as infrastructure, number of teachers, teaching and learning processes must be taken into consideration in planning to achieve the desired goal.
Durnnian said UNICEF was working with the Katsina State Government to enhance access to quality education in public schools across the state.
“We are collaborating with nine Local Governments Councils- Batsari, Baure, Faskari, Kankara, Kankia, Rimi, Kafur, Mani and Safana to enhance access to quality education,’’ he said.
The officer said that UNICEF also plans to introduce skills acquisition for parents to motivate them to continue to send their daughters to school and ensure their retention in school.(NAN)
