The federal government says it is making efforts to enrol 5.5 million out-of-school children among the three target groups of nomads across the country.

The acting executive secretary of the National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE), Umar Ardo, stated this on Wednesday in Kano.

Mr Ardo spoke during an interview on the sidelines of the International Conference on Nomadic and Alternative Education Approaches in Africa.

The theme of the conference is “Strengthening Inclusive and Flexible Education Pathways for Nomadic Pastoralists and Marginalised Learners in Africa.”

The conference was organised by the Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria (MAAUN), Kano, in collaboration with the Catholic University of East Africa (CUEA), Kenya, Capital University of Somalia and the University of Namibia.

“When we are talking about nomadic education, the target beneficiaries are three groups. What constitutes a nomad is a nomadic pastoralist, migrant fisher and migrant farmer,” he said.

He revealed that the groups constituted a 45.9 million population across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

“And we have 5.5 million out-of-school children among the three target groups.

“Although the programme started with nomadic pastoralists in 1989, it has been expanded over the years to cover the other two groups.

“So, at the moment, the enrolment is not less than 1.9 million learners across the federation. We also have graduates over the years,” he said.

The acting executive secretary revealed that the commission had adopted a lot of strategies in terms of implementation as a result of insecurity and other emerging issues in the country.

Mr Ardo noted that apart from conventional methods, the commission designed unconventional school settings with the aim of reaching such groups of people.

“We have different types of schools under the system. We have schools under sheds, we have mobile schools, and we have gone further in terms of technology, particularly using radio to deliver lessons,” he said. 

The acting ES further said that the commission had recently adopted the Accelerated Basic Education Programme that accommodated youths who were also out of school.

“We are implementing it for the nomads to create more access and ensure quality, particularly through skills acquisition programmes.

“So, we have established skills acquisition centres to provide more opportunities for the nomads apart from their traditional method to improve their livelihoods,” he said.

(NAN)