The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), on Wednesday, says that a total of 18.3 pupils are out of school in Nigeria.

Dr. Tushar Rane, UNICEF’S Chief of Field Office, Bauchi State, stated this during a two-day regional stakeholders meeting on out-of-school children and retention, transition as well as completion models in Bauchi, Gombe and Adamawa states.

Breaking down the figure, Rane said that a staggering 10.2 million primary school-age children and 8.1 million at the junior secondary level are out of school in the country.

According to him, this trend positioned Nigeria with the challenge of having the largest number of out-of-school children globally.

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“Only 63 per cent of children of primary school age regularly attend school.

“According to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2021, only 84 per cent of children effectively transition to junior secondary education after primary school completion.

“Less than 50 percent – about 2.4 million – of the 5.9 million children who commence Primary Grade 1 annually in Nigeria persist to the conclusion of Junior Secondary Grade 3.

“An analysis of the MICS reports between 2011 and 2021 shows an increase in dropout rates across all genders at the primary level especially in the northern part of the country,” he said.

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The UNICEF boss explained that this consistent pattern suggested that, compared to a decade ago, the education system in Nigeria faced challenges in retaining students and ensuring their continued education across all the regions, adding that the problem persisted in the Northeast and Northwest.

He said that UNICEF was deeply concerned with the rate of out-of-school children, and low learning achievement in the country, especially in the Northeast and Northwest regions.

To this end, he said UNICEF, in collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Commission developed the National Framework of Action to reduce the number of Out-of-School Children in Nigeria which ensured inclusive and equitable quality education and promoted lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Also speaking, a director from Gombe State Universal Basic Education Board, Yawoji Bala, highlighted some of the factors increasing the number of out-of-school children to include; early marriage, peer group, social norms and beliefs.

The meeting was attended by commissioners of education from Bauchi , Adamawa and Gombe states as well as executive secretaries of SUBEB and other relevant agencies across the three Northeastern states.

A new factional Speaker has emerged in the Rivers State House of Assembly in person of Victor Jumbo.

Jombo is among the four lawmakers loyal to the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara since the political crisis that rocked the state started.

The former factional Speaker, Edison Ehie, who was the leader of the pro-Fubara lawmakers, later resigned membership of the Assembly after President Bola Tinubu’s intervention to broker peace in the feud between Fubara and his estranged political godfather, Nyesom Wike, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Rivers State House Of Assembly Gets New Speaker

Ehie was later appointed Chief of Staff, Rivers State Government House, by Fubara.

Jumbo is the member representing Bonny Constituency in the state House of Assembly.

A source in the Government House, Port Harcourt, familiar with the development, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, confirmed the development to our correspondent on the telephone.

He stated, “Yes, I can confirm to you that Hon Victor Oko Jumbo has just emerged as the new Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

“His colleagues elected him during their sitting in Port Harcourt this afternoon. That is all I can say for now.”

More to come…

The Director General, Edo State Health Insurance Commission (EDOHIC), Dr. Rock Amegor, has said over 102,000 vulnerable persons in the state are benefitting from the state’s Equity Fund and the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF).

Dr. Amegor disclosed this in Benin City during an event to commemorate two years of providing care to vulnerable groups under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund by the Commission.

The Fund is being managed by the Edo State Government in collaboration with the Federal Government to cater for the healthcare needs of vulnerable persons in the State.

He noted, “We are here to mark the two-year anniversary of providing healthcare services for the very vulnerable in our society. The State and Federal Governments have put funds aside to take care of those who are very vulnerable. We have classified the vulnerable into five groups: Those under five years of age, pregnant women, indigents, the poorest of the poorest and those above 65 years of age.”

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According to him, “These vulnerable groups, as the Bible says, the poor have always been with us. It is what we started with to show the empathy of today’s government.

“We have other plans but in March 2022, we started giving service from only three facilities under the basic health care provision fund, and in that year, we had only enrolled 9,000 people into the scheme, but as of today, with the contribution of the State and Federal Government, we gave enrolled about 80,000 people into the Basic Health Care Provision Fund or the Equity Plan. Over 69,000 persons from the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, and another 22,000 persons from the State Equity.”

Amegor added, “They are complementing each other. The beauty about the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and the State Equity Plan is that there is no co-contribution from the enrollee or patients whenever they go to the hospital.

“Those within the rural and the semi-urban and urban areas, the likes of the Ward Development Committee or the officer-in-charge of the facilities and even the Enigies and the Odionwere of the societies, they know those who are vulnerable within them.

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“They are given a number to register vulnerable people so that every month we get a target of at least 20/20 per facility to make sure those living in desolate areas, those even living in urban and rural areas can get access to health care whenever and wherever they need this health care.

“If you look at the statistics of enrollment and when we call out for programmes and outreach for people to participate in their health care service, Edo North had consistently come top and so, one of the statistics that the digital agency has also drawn out and has also contained what you have said is that Edo North has a very high health-seeking behaviour even when manpower deficit is the same across board.”

He restated, “What we are doing is using that statistics to inform those in other senatorial districts to improve their health-seeking behaviour because what that generates or what it relates to is that for those who have health-seeking behavior, they have more longevity, their life expectancy is better, their quality of life is better and ultimately their productivity is better.”

Also, the State Coordinator, NHIA, Theodore Ehanire, expressed satisfaction over the contribution of the state government in keeping with its mandate to provide continuous health care assistance to vulnerable people in the State, including people living with disabilities.