Eniola Olorundare
No fewer than 10 schools will be participating in the 8th Edition of the Children’s Creative Station Workshop organised by the National Theatre Troupe of Nigeria (NTN) in Bauchi State.
Chief Executive Officer of the NTN, Mr Ahmed Mohammed, stated this at the inauguration of the competition on Monday in Bauchi.
The event with the theme: “Unity in Diversity,’’ was designed to enhance creativity in arts among adolescent.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the competition was in collaboration with the state Ministries for Education, Tourism and Culture, and supported by UNICEF and North East Development Commission (NEDC).
Mohammed said that the competition would be conducted from Sept. 13 to Oct. 3, adding that, “Children are engaged during summer holidays with the view to discover talents and creativity in the area of performing art.
“The programme has targeted children and teens between five and 18 years of age, whose imaginations, talents and creativity are nurtured, developed and appreciated.”
Mrs Pamela Udoka, Director Technical and Production Services of the NTN, said that participants would be monitored while in school.
Pamela added that the activity would commence with a three-day workshop, elimination stage and the grand finale.
“The workshop will be held few days before school resumes; they commence rehearsal with the school mates.
“The elimination stage will be on Sept. 30 and then the finalist will perform on Oct. 2.”
Also speaking, Mr Tushar Rani, UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office, Bauchi, lauded the initiative, saying that the competition was an opportunity to address the needs of the society.
Rani said that the state recorded 1.2 million enrolment annually into primary schools, adding that only 200,000 transit to junior secondary schools and 130,000 remain in secondary schools.
He said that the transition rate was less than 30 per cent in the state.
According to him, investing in adolescent education is important to the society.
He urged for collaborative efforts to ensure that transition to completion of primary to secondary school education improved.
