Kano records 989,234 out of school children-UNICEF
By Khadija Aliyu
The united nations children’s fund (UNICEF) says Kano State has at least 989,234 out-of-school children.
UNICEF’s Nigeria Country Representative , Ms Cristian Munduate, made the disclosure while briefing newsmen in Kano.
She explained that, the almost one million out of school children in the state, are both males and females.
According to Cristian, there’s the urgent need for Nigeria to improve investment in the education sector, and redouble efforts aimed at addressing the critical issue, of out-of-school children.
“There is the need for every child to have access to education”
The country representative pointed out that, 1.5 million girls were enrolled in schools under UNICEF’s Girls’ Education Project Phase 3, implemented between 2012 and 2022.
The project was funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the U.K (FCDO), and implemented in Kano, Bauchi, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto and Zamfara.
Speaking on the health sector, Cristian noted that, Kano state is expected to have functional primary healthcare centers (PHCs), that can provide full complement of Tier I Minimum Service Package round-the-clock, as the state has 484 primary healthcare centers (PHCs),across the 484 political wards.
“The PHCs must be staffed by adequate number of skilled birth attendants to provide antenatal care, delivery and postnatal care services.
The country representative highlighted that,currently, Kano has 185 functional PHCs, close to fulfilling the one functional PHC per ward criterion, adding that, the facilities would fulfil basic requirements with minimal resource allocation, by the state government.
She emphasized on the need for the state government to invest in functional PHCs, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals target.
Cristian hinted that, 1.3 million new births, and those of children less than five years of age, had been registered in Kano State since digital birth registration started in 2022.
Radio Nigeria reports that, the UNICEF Nigeria country representative Ms Cristian Munduate, had earlier visited Jigawa state, before proceeding to kano, and would visit another northern state in the next few weeks.
