Nasarawa State Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), has expressed readiness to partner the media to improve school enrolment in rural communities in the state.
Officials of the state government and UNICEF made the disclosure on Thursday in Lafia, at a media dialogue with media chief executives and reporters on ‘Back to School Campaign and School Safety’ in the state.
Speaking at the media dialogue, Mr. Mohammed Bala, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, said the state government, with UNICEF, would partner the media to achieve the objectives of the campaign.
He said that the campaign was in fulfillment of Gov. Abdullahi Sule-led administration’s commitment to improving school enrolment of children, especially in rural communities.
Similarly, Mr. Musa Dan’Azumi, Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), represented by Dr. Ibrahim Eshin, Director of Academic Services in the board, expressed readiness to partner the media in the board’s awareness campaign.
The SUBEB Chairman said ahead of the realisation of the set objectives, government through the board had provided befitting structures and teaching materials in most public junior secondary and primary schools.
He said that the government was making efforts to ensure that all existing public schools were renovated and more structures built to provide conducive environment for learning.
Dan’Azumi said that under the back-to-school and safe school campaigns, they were working in two Local Government Areas (LGAs) with plans to extend it to another 11 in the state.
“We are currently working with traditional and religious leaders as well as other stakeholders in Lafia and Nasarawa LGA to ensure that all children are back to school, irrespective of their social status,” he said.
In his goodwill message, Zachary Adam, Chief, UNICEF Kaduna Field Office, said they were partnering with governments of four states in the North-Central toward ensuring zero out of school related cases.
He said UNICEF was partnering with governments of Kaduna, Niger, Kwara and Nasarawa states on the back-to-school and safe school campaigns.
On his part, Mr. Francis Mador-Elisha, Education Officer, UNICEF Kaduna Office, said the collaboration was aimed at building collective responsibility and support on back-to-school campaign and school safety in the state.
He listed other objectives of the dialogue to include, sharing of global partnership back to school strategy to the public, agreeing on possible collaborations and supporting roles and responsibilities of the media.
The education officer of UNICEF Kaduna Office also appealed to media practitioners and media executives to support the campaign through sustained reportage of its programmes, with a view to improving the enrolment of out-of-school children.