Tackling the Scourge of Out-of-school Children In Katsina

Francis Sardauna writes that the Back-to-School and Behavioural Change Campaign launched by UNICEF in collaboration with the Katsina State SUBEB would tackle the spate of out-of-school children in the state

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report shows that out of the 10.5 million out-of-school children in the country, 6.5 million are in the northern part of the country. The most worrisome aspect of the report is that 40 per cent of Nigerian children aged six to 11, do not attend any primary school with the northern region recording the lowest school attendance rate.

Another challenge besetting the northern part of the country is the issue of girl-child education. The gender gap remains particularly wide and the proportion of girls to boys in school ranges from one girl to two boys, to one to three in almost all the 19 states.

In Katsina, according to Annual School Census Report released by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and UNICEF, the state has 775,000 out-of-school children across the 34 local government areas of the state as a result of banditry and COVID-19 pandemic. The report further revealed that Kankara and Kafur local governments have the highest number of the out-of-school children.

For instance, in Kankara, the report indicated that 75 per cent of children in the state’s most largest landmark (1,462 km2) local government, drop out of school upon completing primary school. It also indicates that 82 per cent of children aged between six and 11 attend primary school in the area, while 28 per cent are out of primary school.

More worrisome, only 25 per cent of the children between the ages of 12 to 14 are in junior and senior secondary schools, while 75 per cent are out-of-school. This shows that majority of the children that attended primary school do not transit to even junior secondary school (JSS). They drop out at primary level for either marriage, farming or trading.

In Kafur, 71 per cent of children between the ages of six and 11 are in schools, while 29 per cent within the same age range are out-of-school. Transition ratio from primary school to junior secondary school (JSS) is 65 per cent and 35 per cent of students are out-of-school according to the Annual School Census of 2020. Thus, a total of 69,062 children are currently in schools in the area.

Investigation by THISDAY revealed that early marriage, poverty, socio-cultural barriers, transition, inadequate junior and senior secondary schools, lack of adequate learning facilities, banditry and COVID-19 are the major factors triggering the spate of the out-of-school children in the affected LGAs.

Access to secondary schools in the area is another challenging issue as most students trek for 15 kilometres to attend junior secondary schools in nearby communities.

Other factors militating against basic education in the LGAs range from the fact that many children do not attend school because their labour is needed to either help at home or bring additional income to the family. Many families cannot afford the costs of sending their children to schools such as uniforms and textbooks. Some parents also prefers to send their children to Qur’anic schools instead of formal schools.

It is against this backdrop that UNICEF, Kano Field Office, in collaboration with the state government through SUBEB, launched “Back-to-School and Behavioural Change Campaign” in the state. The campaign was flagged-off in Katsina, the state capital, and the headquarters of Kankara and Kafur local governments.

The life-changing campaign, which is being implemented by UNICEF with funding support from Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), is targeted at returning over 200,000 out-of-school children, including Al-majirai to school this year (2021) to eradicate the menace of out-of-school children from across the 361 political wards of the state.

At Kankara, the stakeholders comprising traditional and religious leaders, headteachers, classroom teachers and parents converged on the local government education authority (LGEA) secretariat where they brainstormed extensively on how to tackle the scourge in communities across the LGA. They, thereafter, vowed to end the age-long predicament by returning their children to school.

At the launch of the Back-to-school and Behavioural Change Campaign in the area, the Executive Chairman of SUBEB, Lawal Buhari Daura, represented by the Board Secretary, Isa Muhammed, said only 82 per cent of children aged between six and 11 attend primary school, while 28 per cent were out of primary school.

He said: “Katsina State is one of the identified states in the northern part of the country with a significant number of out of school children, with children within the 6 to 14 age bracket having a higher percentage. The figures are alarming, with Kankara among the leading LGAs in the state. And access to secondary schools is challenging.

“In Kankara, which has an area of 1,462 square kms in size, some students trek more than five kilometres from their communities to the nearest secondary school. Moreover, the lack of secondary schools in some communities in Kankara, mostly stopped pupils transiting from primary to JSS level.

“Similarly, 25 per cent of the children between the ages of 12 to 14, were those in Secondary schools, and 75 per cent are out-of-school. Thus, this signifies that the majority of the children that attend primary school do not transit to Junior Secondary School (JSS), as they drop-out at the primary level”.

He added: “Transition is one of the challenges that had contributed to the out-of-school-children in the LGA, as pupils complete the cycle, but were unable to transit to higher levels. This is alarming and need immediate attention or a state of emergency on education in Kankara, so as to propel avenues and activities, as well as implementing them to overcome the challenge.

The SUBEB secretary explained that the state government and other development partners had achieved a lot in terms of ensuring that school age children were in school, retained, complete, as well as transit to a higher level of education.

On his part, the Kankara Local Government Head of Administration, Nura Labaran, said the high number of out-of-school-children in the area was 95 per cent caused by insecurity. He noted that three per cent of the cause could be attributed to inadequate learning structures and materials, while the remaining two per cent were due to negligence by parents.

While flagging off the programme at Kafur Local Government Secretariat, the SUBEB Secretary, Isa Muhammed, explained that 71 per cent of children between the ages of six and 11 are in schools, while 29 per cent within the same age range are out-of-school.

He reiterated that transition ratio from primary school to junior secondary school (JSS) is 65 per cent and 35 per cent of students are out-of-school according to the Annual School Census of 2020. Thus, a total of 69,062 children are currently in schools in the area.

During the launch of the campaign, stakeholders in the local government unanimously agreed to work assiduously to return the 64 per cent of out-of-school children in primary and secondary schools back to school for educational and socio-economic development to thrive in the area.

To ensure acceptability and sustainability of the programme, 100 head teachers, classroom teachers, traditional and religious leaders carefully selected by UNICEF in Kankara and Kafur Local Government Areas, have been trained by the international non-governmental organisation to carry out the back-to-school campaign to rural dwellers in the affected councils.

As part of efforts to encourage the out-of-school children in Kankara and Kafur to return to school, the organisation and the state government has concluded plan to distribute incentives to pupils and junior secondary school students in the affected LGAs.

It is heart-warming that the state government under the leadership of Governor Aminu Bello Masari is making deliberate concerted efforts towards addressing the challenge, but there is urgent need for the government to ensure timely release of budgetary allocations for the funding of basic education in order to complement efforts of donor partners like the UNICEF.