News Rendezvous

– Challenged to Take Politicians to Task on Prioritising Education in Campaign Agenda

Journalist in Adamawa state have been tasked to beam their spotlight on politicians campaigning agenda by urging them to make commitment towards ensuring a safe and quality education policies in Adamawa state.

The group of Journalist were told to use their respective medium to strengthen the quality of education and to ensure that a conducive school environment and a safe learning environment were created in order to boost more pupils enrollment into schools in Adamawa state.

The charge was made Thursday during a one-day training session for journalists on ”Gender Transformative Education” organized by Education Champions Network (ECN), in Yola, Adamawa State.

ECN said as campaigns are ongoing, media should take advantage of the environment and challenge candidates to give prominence to issues of safe school environment especially on how it affects the vulnerable in the society including the girl-child and low income earners.

The training observes that despite the assurance of free and compulsory basic education Adamawa state, several children of school attending age are still out of school buoyed several inhibiting factors including hidden charges disguised as PTA levy, lack of access to learning materials and in some cases, absence of basic infrastructure.

The training notes that several schools in Adamawa and across several parts of the country still remain a challenging space for the girl-child and for school pupils to feel safe and secure for effective learning to take place.

The training went further to advocate that to ensure the education advocacy project in Adamawa gains significant mileage, the media must be leveraged to reach stakeholders especially policymakers and implementors like politicians.

Speaking at the occasion, Chisom Ihekwaba said the ECN is a network of NGOs committed to the fostering and the redefinition of basic education in the light of domestic and state laws.

Chisom said, “Education as encompassed in the Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs) four, in a judgement secured by a Non Governmental Education and other statues in Nigeria has prescribed that every Nigerian child has a right to education as a fundamental human right as guaranteed by law.”

Chisom explained further that,  “The need for safe and quality education in Nigeria has become imperative in the wake of attacks on schools which has affected no fewer than twenty eight (28) schools consequently increasing the number of out of school children.

“Now more than ever there is the need for the implementation of the rights of the child to a free and compulsory basic education in Nigeria.”

Jamila Suleiman while addressing Newsmen at the event said, “The place of education in transforming the human capital into human resources is indispensable hence government must ensure a safe school for all Nigerian students at all levels.

“In this regard, Journalist have a huge task to ensure for the development of robust educational policies from political actors especially in their respective Campaign manifestos.”

During the planery sessions journalists developed various strategies and approaches for championing the cause of education by engaging the political actors on the need to put education on the front burner of their policies ahead of the 2023 general election in the state.

Some of the commitments made by the journalists at the event include engaging the political actors vying for public offices to create a strong education policies that guarantees for safe and quality education and to engage political actors in interview sessions, among other media engagements that would foster safe and quality school environment.