The National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE) has trained 21 members of School Based Management Committees (SBMC) and Mothers Association (MA) from seven Northwest states to bring back to school the 18.5 million out-of-school children.
Addressing the Capacity Building Training for members of School Based Management Committees and Mothers Association from North western states on Combating the Menace of out-of-school children yesterday in Kaduna, the executive secretary of NCNE, Prof. Bashir Usman, said 3.5 million of the 18.5 million out-of-school children were from nomadic background.
He said the figure of out-of-school children rose from 10.5 million in 2021 to 18.5 million in 2022 due to the spate of insecurity and early marriages in the region.
Prof. Usman, who was represented by the Commission’s director of quality assurance, Mr. Akin Akinyosoye, said the alarming rate of the out-of-school children may worsen the security situation in the region and in Nigeria if unchecked.
He said, “In 2022, UNICEF reported that Nigeria has 18.5 million children that are out of school. This figure is quite high when compared with 2021 estimates that were put at 10.5 million which puts Africa’s most populous country’s out-of-school children to be on an emergency frequency.
“Alarmingly, UNICEF posits that 60 percent of the 18.5 million OOSC in Nigeria are girls. This could be worse in the Northwest zone comprising of Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi states, which were adversely affected by kidnapping, banditry, insurgency, early marriage, hence the increased number of out-of-school children in the zone. The prevalence of out of school children could exacerbate the worsening security situation in the zone.
“The Commission has adopted various strategies to ensure that these nomadic children return to schools. Part of this effort is to build the capacity of members of School Based Management Committees (SBMC) and Mothers Associations (MA) to serve as foot soldiers in boosting the effort of the Commission towards reducing the number of Out-Of-School Children (00SC) in their communities. This effort is aimed at educating them on their roles and responsibilities in ensuring effective and efficient management of nomadic schools.”
