The Nasarawa State Government has begun the training of over six hundred youths from the 13 Local Government Areas (LGAs) as facilitators of the At-Risk Children Programme (ARC-P) in the state.
The ARC-P is in collaboration with the Nigerian Government
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the three weeks training in Lafia, Special Adviser (SA) to the President on Social Investments and National Lead of ARC-P, Mrs Maryam Uwais, said the training was aimed at equipping them with the requisite knowledge.
Mrs Uwais who was represented by Mrs Grace Obi-Ukpabi, said the At-Risk initiative was a strategic approach to solving the myriad issues affecting the enrolment of children in schools in the communities.
She revealed that the 650 facilitators were expected to give a monthly report on the progress of each child under their care, urged the facilitators to help the children beyond acquisition of knowledge, to mentorship.
“I like to tell you that we have placed a lot of responsibility on you; you have been trained to handle the responsibility of other children beyond learning.
“You will take care of the children in your communities, you will be expected to not only supervise and teach them, you will also monitor them, you will mentor them.
“You will make sure you give us a report every month on how each and every child that has been assigned to you is progressing within your community”.
She described the tasks of the facilitators as a huge one, “We feel this is the only way we can address the huge numbers of children that are out of school across the country.’’
The SA to the President therefore lauded Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State for his corporation and support toward ensuring the success of the program.
Also, Nasarawa State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Aisha Rufai-Ibrahim said the 650 youths were selected from the 13 LGAs of the state to be trained on knowledge and skills.
She explained that 50 youths were selected from each of the 13 LGAs to ensure fairness and equal opportunity to all the parts of the state.
Rufai-Ibrahim further said that the facilitators would be trained in seven areas which are; basic education and literacy, agriculture, climate change, health and nutrition, digital skills, sports, and substance abuse.
The Commissioner added that each facilitator would be assigned to teach and mentor 50 schoolchildren and adults from one to 24 years in their respective communities.
“They are expected to provide basic education and vocational skills to the out-of-school persons under their care to make their lives worthwhile and enable them to either return to school or pick up a career.
“The government would pay the facilitators N30, 000 monthly to enable them to do their newly assigned job with ease,” Hajiya Rufai-Ibrahim added.
She expressed optimism that the program would go a long way toward addressing the menace of street begging involving children in the state.
The Commissioner, therefore, promised to put machinery on the ground to ensure the success of the program and urged the beneficiaries to take the training seriously for the overall development of the state.
