The Kaduna State Government says it has integrated about 15,000 out-of-school children into formal education through its Reaching Out-of-School Children, ROOSC, Project.
The project’s coordinator, Mr Ezra Angai, disclosed this during the integration of Catch Up Club, CuC, learners into formal schools at LGEA Primary School, Babban Saura, Kaduna State. Angai said the exercise was being conducted across 14 local government areas as part of the state’s target of returning 100,000 out-of-school children to learning.
He said the latest figure had brought the total number of children reached through different learning pathways under the project to more than 36,000.
Angai explained that the state government introduced the initiative under Governor Uba Sani to address the growing number of children excluded from formal education.
He said the project had mapped 360,000 households and identified 187,719 out-of-school children across the state’s 23 local government areas.
The coordinator disclosed that the programme involved identifying the children, enrolling them and providing suitable learning opportunities based on their educational backgrounds.
He explained that Catch Up Clubs offered three months of remedial lessons to prepare children who had previously been out of school for integration into formal classrooms.
The programme also assessed learners’ abilities to determine appropriate class placements based on their individual learning levels, he added.
Angai said the project also employed alternative learning methods, including radio-based lessons and partnerships with Alaramas and Tsangaya schools, to reach children in underserved communities.
He appreciated the state government, development partners, parents, teachers and community leaders for supporting the programme.
Among the project’s development partners, he listed the Islamic Development Bank, Kuwait Fund, Save the Children International, Education Above All and the Global Partnership for Education.
Also speaking, the Executive Chairman of the Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, Dr Mubarak Muhammad, said the state government declared a state of emergency on education in 2023 to address the challenge of out-of-school children and improve access to quality basic education.
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Muhammad said nearly 15,000 learners who had completed the Catch Up Club programme were being integrated into formal classrooms across the state.
He added that the government had provided learning materials to encourage the children and support their transition into formal education.
The chairman said the government would also continue to improve teachers’ capacity, construct additional classrooms and upgrade learning environments across the state.
In his remarks, the Project Director of Save the Children’s ROOSC Project, Mr Emmanuel Brusa, said the organisation facilitated the transition of learners from Catch Up Clubs into formal schools.
Brusa explained that the learners were formally handed over to head teachers and education secretaries for continued learning and monitoring.
The Head Teacher of LGEA Primary School, Babban Saura, Mrs Rabi’atu Yahaya Abdullahi, commended the government and development partners for supporting the initiative.
She, however, appealed for more classrooms and the construction of a perimeter fence, citing rising enrolment and inadequate facilities.
Abdullahi said the school, established in 1976, had 2,005 pupils but only 12 classrooms.
The District Head of Babban Saura, Alhaji Dauda Hashimu, also praised the government and its partners for supporting children’s education.
He urged the state government to build additional classrooms, noting that the school had enough land for expansion.
Some parents, including Jummai Adamu and Samaila Musa, expressed appreciation to the government and development partners for helping their children return to school.
They called for the programme to be sustained, saying it would give the children better educational opportunities and prospects for the future.
NAN
