The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, has called on stakeholders to work together to make education more inclusive as a way of mitigating the effects of Covid-19 pandemic on education of children from disadvantaged homes.
The federal government had declared the theme for this year’s Children’s Day as “Unite to reverse the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on Children.”
The presidential aide made the call in a press statement by the Head Communications OSSAP-SDGs, Rotimi Ajayi, in Abuja, to mark the 2021 Children’s Day. She said global reports indicate that the closure of schools during the lockdown worsened the plight of children from disadvantaged background in term of access to quality education.
She noted that children from privilege homes were able to continue their education because their schools are well-equipped with ICT infrastructure and their parents could provide similar resources at home.
Princess Orelope-Adefulire, however, noted that the case was different with majority of students from disadvantaged background whose parents were not able to afford internet connectivity or whose homes lacked reliable power supply.
The presidential aide decried the fact that some pupils could not return to school because they had been married off, their parents were out of jobs or their businesses had collapsed during the pandemic.
According to her, “As the world gradually recovers from the heavy impacts of the Covid-19 and further surges into the decade of action for the actualisation of the SDGs, this year’s Children’s Day should be a wake-up call to all stakeholders on the importance of education as the bedrock of the global goals of leaving no one behind.
“Our education system must become more inclusive. Stakeholders must work together to bridge this digital divide through provision of needed resources and collaborative action towards ensuring that the digital divide among our children which became so evident with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic are addressed.
“We must also work to ensure that all children are returned to the classrooms.
The presidential aide commended President Muhammadu Buhari over recent inauguration of a steering committee for Alternate School Programme, noting that the initiative would help to reduce the huge number of out of school children in Nigeria.
