UNICEF harps on renewed strategy for addressing out-of-school children

From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi

As a way of addressing out-of-school children across the country, United Nation Education Fund (UNICEF) have advocated the integration of school feeding, nutrition screening, water and sanitation facilities, and child protection services into education planning to strengthening enrolment and retention.

Nutrition Specialist and Officer-in-Charge of UNICEF Enugu Field Office, Mrs Ngozi Onuora, stated this at the Benue State Basic Education Summit in Makurdi themed “Innovative Strategies For Addressing the Challenge of Out-of-School Children: Strengthening Enrolment And Retention In Basic Education.

Onuora harped on multi-sectoral innovative strategies for better results, saying evidence consistently shows that school-based nutrition interventions improve attendance, concentration, and completion rates.

She said: “At UNICEF, we recognize that education and nutrition are inseparable pillars of child development. A child who is hungry cannot learn. A child who is malnourished cannot fully concentrate, retain knowledge, or thrive in school. Therefore, when we speak about out-of-school children in Benue State, we must also speak about the conditions that prevent children not only from enrolling but from staying and succeeding in school.”

She noted that while Benue state is home to over 464,000 IDPs, a significant proportion of the children are facing disruption not only to their education, but also to their nutrition, protection, and overall well-being.

The UNICEF officer called for a systematic identification and mapping of out-of-school children, particularly in displacement-affected communities, integration of learners from IDP camps into host communities with adequate infrastructure and safety measures.

She also called for community engagement to promote enrolment and sustained attendance especially for girls among others.

Onuora, who was represented by the Education Specialist, Unicef Enugu Field Office, Mr. Believe Eke, expressed UNICEF’s readiness to partner the Benue state government through the establishment of temporary learning spaces, teacher capacity building, and the provision of essential learning materials while supporting learning continuity in emergency contexts.

She said the launch of the Brace-Up Project by the Benue state Universal Basic Education board is both timely and strategic as it offers an opportunity to combine strong data systems with community mobilization, targeted interventions, and sustained financing to bring children back to school and keep them there.

In support of these efforts, she said UNICEF would provide 400 school-in-a-box kits each containing 42 essential teaching and learning materials sufficient for 40 learners and one teacher as well as 2,000 exercise books to facilitate enrolment and participation of identified out-of-school children.

“No child should have to choose between food and education. No child should lose their future because they have lost their homes. To truly strengthen enrolment and retention, we must address the whole child mind, body, and protection,” she stated.

Benue State Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, said his administration had demonstrated strong political will and invested heavily in the training of the Benue child, citing the recruitment of over 9000 teachers, renovation of over 400 classroom, building of over 300 toilets, provision of white board as well as text and workbooks across the schools in the state among other incentives.