The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called on development partners and governments at all levels to increase funding of the education sector to make schools across the country safer for reopening.
Mrs Azuka Menkiti, Education Specialist, UNICEF Abuja, made the call in a presentation entitled: “An Integrated Approach to Safe School Reopening” at the ongoing three-day Technical Meeting of the Committee on Safe School Reopening.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was organised by the Federal Ministry of Education, with support from UNICEF, to put measures for safe re-opening of schools.
Menkiti pointed out that the outbreak of COVId-19 pandemic had negatively impacted on efforts to get the more that 13 million out of school children in the country back to school.
She said that the pandemic had led to the closure of about 168,704 schools across the country and disrupted learning for millions of children and youths in basic and senior secondary schools.
She re-echoed growing concerns that if the learners were not properly supported, they might never return to school.
According to her, governments and partners should increase education financing by re-purposing funds planned for 2020 interventions to address the immediate needs for schools to reopen.
“COVID-19 has created the largest disruption of education systems in history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries and all continents.
“Closures of schools and other learning spaces have impacted 94 per cent of the world’s student population, up to 99 per cent in low and lower-middle income countries.
“This has aggravated pre-existing education disparities by reducing opportunities for vulnerable children, youth, and adults to continue their learning, particularly those living in rural areas, girls, and persons with disabilities,” she said.
The education specialist stressed the need for preventing the learning crisis from becoming a generational catastrophe, adding that the development required urgent action from all stakeholders.
She described education as not only a fundamental human right, but also an enabling right with direct impact on the realisation of all other human rights.
“As a bedrock of just, equal, and inclusive peaceful societies, education is a global common good and a primary driver of progress across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
“When education systems collapse, peace, prosperous and productive societies cannot be sustained.
“Therefore, immediate actions for increasing education financing should be directed at re-purposing funds to address the immediate needs for school readiness.
“Develop a cost model for standard school compliance facilities; Universal Basic Education Commission and State Houses of Assembly must increase budgetary allocation for school facilities to fasten readiness to reopen,” she said.
She identified immediate actions that must be taken to fasts track reopening of schools as, safety operation to make the school environment safe, learning loss, child protection, wellbeing, and inclusiveness.
Menkiti also stressed the need to engage communities on schools reopening plan and adopting effective communication strategy to encourage re- enrolment of children.
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