Kano State has at least 989,234 out-of-school children, UNICEF’s Country Representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, said on Thursday.

Ms Munduate told a news conference in Kano that the almost one million out-of-school children are of both genders.

She said Nigeria needed to redouble efforts in addressing the critical issue of out-of-school children and improve investments in the education sector.

“There is the need for every child to have access to education,’’ she said.

The country representative added that 1.5 million girls were enrolled in schools under UNICEF’s Girls’ Education Project Phase 3, implemented between 2012 and 2022.

The project was funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the UK and implemented in Kano, Bauchi, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto, and Zamfara.

Ms Munduate noted that in the health sector, Kano State had 484 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in its 484 political wards.

According to her, Kano is expected to have functional PHCs that can provide a full complement of Tier I Minimum Service Package services round-the-clock,  with adequate skilled birth attendants. 

“Currently, Kano has 185 such PHCs, close to fulfilling the one functional PHC per ward criterion. These facilities will fulfil basic requirements with minimal resource allocation by the state government.

“Kano State has 50 PHCs that meet one functional PHC and ward criteria.

“Therefore, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal target, the state government must invest to have functional PHCs in 484 wards that meet the Tier I Minimum Service Package requirements by 2026,’’ she stressed.

Ms Munduate also said 1.3 million new births and those of children less than five years of age had been registered in Kano since digital birth registration started in 2022.

(NAN)