The United Nations Children’s Fund in collaboration with the Gombe State Ministry of Education have enrolled 2,935 children of Internally Displaced Persons in Gombe State in schools.
Hannatu Atiku, the representative of the Ministry of Education, stated this while listing the achievements recorded in the Education sector during the Mid-Year review meeting of activities organised by UNICEF, Bauchi Field Office.
Atiku said the children were drawn from five Local Government Areas, namely Balanga, Gombe, Yamaltu /Deba, Nafada and Dukku, selected for the pilot project.
She said: “The aim of the programme is to ensure that children of IDPs are enrolled to continue their education like other children.
“One of the major challenges we are facing in carrying out the programme is resistance from some parents that said they did not want their children to be enrolled in Western schools.
“We still have a long way to go because out of 100 per cent, only 53 per cent were enrolled and the remaining 47 per cent are not in schools.”
In the health sector presentations made by Alex Bako, the State’s Immunization Officer, 95 per cent success was recorded in terms of outbreak response immunization.
Bako said following reports of wild polio virus in neighbouring Borno State, immunization was carried out in five local government areas in Gombe State that were sharing boundaries with other states.
Bako said in the last five years, there was no case of wild polio virus in Gombe State, adding that during the Maternal New Born Child Health Week, 95 per cent of targeted children were reached with interventions like vitamin A supplement and deworming tablets.
Malam Sulaiman Mamman, the Gombe State Nutrition Officer, said from January to June, 6,314 malnourished children were treated in the three Nutrition Centres at Gombe, Dukku and Nafada.
Mamman said: “Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo has increased the state’s nutrition budgets from N50 million to N120 million and promised to scale-up the nutrition Centres from three to 11.
In his presentation, Adamu Puma of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, who spoke on the child protection aspect, said they had intensified capacity building on the strengthening of child protection structure in the communities.
In his remark, Drissa Yeo, the Water Sanitation and Hygiene Specialist of UNICEF, said the aim of the meeting was to look at the programme and activities supported by UNICEF in Gombe State.
“We want to know the programmes that are yet to be implemented and take a decision on how to fast track them,” Yeo said.
Declaring the meeting open, Alhaji Aliyu Bappah, the Permanent Secretary, Gombe State Ministry of Economic Planning, thanked UNICEF for its concerted efforts and intervention in Gombe.
Bappah promised the ministry’s continued support in the implementation of UNICEF programmes.
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