The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has raised the alarm that no fewer than 1.6 million children are out of school in the North East.
UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Maiduguri, Phuong Nguyen disclosed this during a Seminar Foundation Literacy and Numeracy in North-East held in Maiduguri on Wednesday.
She said UNICEF remains committed to leaving no child behind as it seeks to accelerate education delivery in Nigeria.
She stressed the need need cooporation among the government, UNICEF, donor agencies and other development partners who are already committed to increasing awareness of fundamental learning and excited to share innovative methods learned from the implementation of these programmes in the region.
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She said, “At least 1.6 million children are out of school in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States. Of those in school, 72% cannot read a simple text after grade 6. Without acquiring appropriate foundational and transferable skills, children fail to thrive in school and life.
“Addressing the learning crises in North-East, and in Nigeria as a whole, requires us to examine the evidence of what works, explore partnerships with the State, NGOs, development partners and communities.
“This seminar provides us with a platform to share evidence, experiences and to renew our commitment to improving learning outcomes of schoolgirls and boys.”
Speaking at the seminar, Nguyen assured that UNICEF would convene practitioners and experts, government officials and civil society to discuss how best Nigeria can foster Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) with a particular focus on Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL), Kanuri, Arithmetic and Reading Intervention (KARI), Reading and Numeracy Activity (RANA) and the Accelerated Basic Education Programme (ABEP).
According to her, the seminar is aimed at promoting awareness of FLN models and lessons from the implementation of fundamental learning programmes in the North East with special consideration of the ongoing humanitarian-development nexus in the region.
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