By Shindong Bala
Kaduna State Government says it has returned over 41,000 out-of-school children to classrooms through the Reaching Out-of-School Children (ROOSC) Project, as part of efforts to bridge educational gaps and improve access to basic education in the state.
The Project Coordinator, Mr. Ezra Angai, disclosed this during the distribution of free educational materials and mainstreaming of 186 children into formal primary education at Baban Saura Community in Kaduna State.
Mr. Angai explained that the exercise was part of a statewide initiative being implemented across 14 local government areas, with the target of enrolling 100,000 out-of-school children within four years.
He said the latest intervention had brought more than 15,000 additional learners back into different learning pathways, adding to the over 26,000 previously enrolled.
The coordinator attributed the progress to the collaboration between the Kaduna State Government and development partners, including Save the Children International, Islamic Development Bank, Kuwait Fund, Education Above All and the Global Partnership for Education.
He explained that the project adopted a data-driven approach, following the mapping of over 360,000 households, which identified 187,719 out-of-school children across the state.
According to him, the initiative also introduced three-month remedial catch-up programmes to prepare children who had never attended school or had spent considerable time outside the classroom for placement in appropriate primary school classes.
Mr. Angai added that alternative learning opportunities, including radio-based education and partnerships with traditional Islamic schools, had also been introduced to reach children in hard-to-access communities.
The Head Teacher of LGEA Primary School, Baban Saura, Mrs. Rabiatu Yahaya Abdullahi commended the government for bringing more children back to school but appealed for additional classrooms and furniture to accommodate the increasing enrolment.
She disclosed that the school, established in 1976, currently has 2,005 pupils but only 12 classrooms.
Some parents, including Mallam Samaila Musa and Mallama Jummai Adamu, expressed appreciation for the intervention and pledged to support efforts to ensure their children’s education.
The educational materials distributed to the newly enrolled pupils included school uniforms, bags and required writing materials.
Editing By Godwin Duru
