Kaduna: ROOSC Project Aims to Ensure Quality Education for All Children

The Kaduna State Project Coordinator of Reaching Out-of-School Children (ROOSC) Project, Ezra Angai, has emphasised the Project’s commitment to providing quality, sustainable, and affordable education for every child in Kaduna State

Angai asserted this during an advocacy visit to the Speaker of the Kaduna House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Yusuf Liman Dahiru.

He explained that the Roosc Project is a four-year basic education initiative aimed at increasing access to learning opportunities, improving enrollment, and ensuring active participation and completion of quality primary education by all children.

Mr. Ezra Angai added that his organization is in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Global Partnership for Education (GPE), Education Above All (EAA), Save the Children International (SCI), and UNICEF to address the pressing issue of out-of-school children.

According to him, the Reaching Out of School Children (ROOSC) Project is a strategic initiative designed to increase access to learning opportunities, improve enrollment rates, and ensure active participation and completion of quality primary education for all children, particularly those with disabilities, girls, and adolescents.

Mr. Ezra opined that part of the wider consultation and advocacy mission is to create critical state holders within the state and within the education sector to support the activities of reaching out to school children in ensuring that the project is implemented successfully and the children that are out of school are returned to school.

He observed that the Reaching Out of School Children project is an initiative of the Kaduna state government under the mentorship of Senator Uba Sani, the executive governor of Kaduna state, to address the issue of school children in Kaduna state.

Also Read: Out-of-School Children: President Tinubu to Address Education Deprivation

Saying the state government is worried about the rising number of out-of-school students in Kaduna State, they came up with the idea to implement three critical aspects that will return out-of-school children to school.

“The first aspect is the issue of access; the project is to build one hundred and two schools and renovate a hundred and seventy schools. 

“The second aspect is addressing the issues of quality education with support from our implementing partners; this project will seek to enhance the quality of education through teacher training and capacity building for our teachers.

“The third aspect speaks to system strengthening, that is strengthening the educational system itself. 

“You know, at this point, it’s worth noting that the Kaduna state government, in an unprecedented move, has voted over twenty-five percent of its budgetary allocation from last year to education.

“This is an outstanding move; it is not something common, and to support this kind of effort from the government, our implementing partners have been working hard to strengthen the system so that these projects are administered correctly, and the staff that are responsible for running the education system will build their capacity and engage them in training, as well as providing them with the tools and materials that would ensure that they function efficiently,” he said.

In his response, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Liman Dahiru, today assured the team of the Kaduna State Government and the lawmakers of support for the success of the project.