TheCable

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says it is working to ensure that no fewer than 5,450 female children transition from primary to junior secondary school in Katsina state.

Muntaka Mukhtar, a UNICEF education specialist, said this at a transition commitment townhall meeting on Wednesday at Baure LGA of the state.

Mukhtar said UNICEF was committed to ensuring the enrollment, transition, and completion of girl-child education.

He said UNICEF has commenced townhall meetings with primary six girls, parents and guardians across six LGAs to achieve the target.

He explained that the meeting was aimed at assessing and proffering solutions to barriers hindering girls from transiting to junior secondary schools for effective and efficient learning.

The education specialist added that UNICEF had enrolled over 300,000 girls into primary schools across 12 LGAs in Katsina under its Girl Education Project Phase-3 (GEP3).

“Since we have improved enrollment in primary school in the state, we want to make sure that those girls who complete primary six are enrolled into junior secondary schools,” he said.

“We will ensure that there is a 100 percent transition to junior secondary school.

“We are engaging the parents to understand the problems hindering school attendance for girls. We will get them to commit to allowing their girls to go to JSS.”

The townhall, which began in Baure and Kankara, is expected to hold in Kafur, Mani, Rimi and Katsina LGAs on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday respectively.