Picture of some students in a school as covered by Hempel Foundation and UNICEF

UNICEF tackles poor school enrolment in Bayelsa

… says 265,000 children are out of school in the state; 13.2 million in the country

… urges parents to exploit free primary and secondary education policy of the state government

… calls on out-of-school teenagers to embrace adult education scheme in the state.

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) of Bayelsa State have begun moves to drive school enrolment across communities in the state.

UNICEF, in collaboration with the state government, commenced school enrolment campaign in the state last week to reduce the rate of out-of-school children which is at about 265,000.

See Italy introduces climatic change classes in school

The programme is targeted at ensuring that all children of school age and adults who dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancy, cultism and other forms of impediment return to school. The programme has been taken to over 20 communities in the state.

Mrs Azibakanye Anans, UNICEF’s principal representative from the Bayelsa State Ministry of Education while speaking during the campaign in Etieama community, Nembe Council, said the state has one of the lowest school enrolments in the country.

Mrs Anans reiterated that the campaign became necessary because of the growing number of out-of-school children in the rural communities in the state which contribute a significant figure out of the 13.2 million out-of-school children in the country and the need to make sure that all children of school age in the state were enrolled.

She prevailed on parents and guardians to exploit the free primary and secondary education policy of the state government to enrol their wards in school, further urging community leaders to commit themselves to sanction parents or guardians who refused to enrol their ward(s) in school, she assured of government’s determination to support children’s education.

She likewise called on teenagers who dropped out of school for one reason or another to take advantage of the adult education scheme in the state.

While thanking UNICEF and the state government for the drive, Chief Jeremiah Itemu-Inafodu, a community leader, assured that community leaders would rally to assist in making sure that the campaign achieved it anticipated result.