Kaduna (Nigeria) – A Non Governmental Organization, ‘Community Reading and Information Acquisition Skill Initiative (CRISI)’ have intervened in enrolling some of the Internally Displaced Person’s (IDPs) children and women to acquiring formal and Arabic education in a community in north-western Nigeria.
Project co-coordinator of the Organization Maryam Mohammed Barau, who led a team of members from the organization to the IDPs camp in Barakallahu, explained that their aim is to assist all the children in IDPs centers who are out of school and could not be sent due to their situation – to help them acquired Knowledge like every other child in the community.
She stressed that the new IDPs school need volunteer teachers and support from individuals as well as the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) – to send in some of the youth corps members in the state with NCE to help in educating the children. She said, “Those children need the assistance of everyone in the community to make their life better by contributing his/her own quota to the success of changing and making life better for the IDPs in the state and across other parts of the north.”
While appreciating the support of parents who willingly allowed their children to enroll in the schools, the project coordinator also called on the National Emergency Management Agency and the State Emergency Management Agency as well as International Donor Organization to introduce a programmed that could help in reshaping live of all orphans, widows, and the aged living in various camp across Northern Nigeria.
“We have enrolled many IDPs children Into Government primary and secondary schools; we also bought them books and new uniform, shoes, blanket along with other learning materials to equip them with all that is needed for studies,” she said.
Mrs. Mohammed added that there are also educative programs for women which include classes for the study of Arabic.
District head of Barakallahu, Mohammad Abdullahi while making his remarks expressed satisfaction over the introduction of the school for IDPs children in his community, saying, this is the first of its kind that will go a long way in overcoming the greatest challenges of education affecting hundreds of those children living in his community.
He however called on private schools across the country to start giving free education to the vulnerable children especially those at various IDPs camps so as to reduce the large number of out-of-school children in the country.
