Friday Omakpo
Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Fallen, has said Nigeria has the highest number of out of school children all over the world.
Mrs. Tallen made this disclosure at her maiden press conference held in Abuja, to mark the beginning of the academic school year for children, where she stated that the number of out of school children in the country has become alarming, but gave assurance that the government is doing its possible best to restore normalcy to reverse the situation.
“Nigeria’s out-of-school population is the largest in the world. However a lot of efforts are put in place by this administration to degrade the insurgency and restore normalcy in the region and encourage school enrolment, retention and completion.”
Speaking further on the efforts by government, Mrs. Tallen disclosed that there was a launch of a program ‘17 5065’ which is set to address gender inequality, encourage the education of more girls and empower more women.
“It is worthwhile to note that the launch of the 17 5065 where goals 4 and 5 provides a tremendous opportunity for ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all and the achievement of gender equality and empower all women and girls.
“It is very important that all stakeholders appreciate the fact that children are individuals with rights and that all duty bearers understand that indeed they have a responsibility to discharge their duties to children from the point of view of rights. For this reason, this government has funded numerous advocacy and sensitization programmes to create awareness and facilitate the promotion of children’s rights.
However, the Minister advised the member of the public not to leave the quest to provide quality education children to the government alone adding that ‘a child with a stimulating home environment does better in all aspects of early childhood development.’
She thus urged parents not to relent in their efforts in providing enabling environment for their children, so as to achieve their potentials.
“We have no future without children and we must do whatever is necessary to ensure their survival, development and protection so that they become responsible and useful members of the society,” said Tallen.
Speaking on gender equality, she gave an assurance of the provision of enabling environment for maximum and holistic development of the Nigerian Women and Children through the implementation of international and regional laws, as well as attend to policies, programmes and projects aimed at enhancing the quality of life of the groups to enable them contribute national development and nation-building.
