There Are 1 Million Out-Of-School Children In Kano Alone – UNICEF

According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), there are at least 989,234 out-of-school children in Kano State, located in Northwestern Nigeria.

Ms Cristian Munduate, the UNICEF representative in Nigeria, stated this at a news conference in Kano on Thursday (today), according to report.

While stating that every child should have access to education, she pointed out that over one million of the state’s out-of-school children are of both genders.

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Munduate stated that Nigeria must redouble its efforts to solve the urgent issue of out-of-school children and increase educational spending.

“Every child needs access to education,” she added, adding that 1.5 million girls were enrolled in schools through UNICEF’s Girls’ Education Project Phase 3, which was implemented between 2012 and 2022.

According to her, the initiative was supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office of the United Kingdom and was carried out in Kano, Bauchi, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto, and Zamfara.

Kano State, according to Munduate, has 484 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in its 484 electoral wards.

“The state is expected to have functional PHCs that can provide a full complement of Tier I Minimum Service Package services round-the-clock.

“The PHCs must be staffed by an adequate number of skilled birth attendants to provide antenatal care, delivery and postnatal care services.

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“Currently, Kano has 185 such PHCs, close to fulfilling the one functional PHC per ward criterion. These facilities will fulfil basic requirements with minimal resource allocation by the state government.

“Kano State has 50 PHCs that meet one functional PHC and ward criteria.

“Therefore, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal target, the state government must invest to have functional PHCs in 484 wards that meet the Tier I Minimum Service Package requirements by 2026,’’ she stressed.

Munduate further stated that 1.3 million new births and children under the age of five had been registered in Kano State since digital birth registration began in 2022. (NAN)

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