Sanctions key to success, failure of basic education  -UNICEF Kano chief, others

BY ANDY ASEMOTA, Katsina

Following the millions of out of school children across the country, UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Kano, Mr. Rafid Aziz, has said legislation holds the key to the success or failure of compulsory basic education in the country.

The UNICEF Kano Field Office Chief, who spoke yesterday during a workshop organized by Katsina State chapter of High Level Women Advocates (HiLWA) on the development of implementation roadmap for the law on compulsory access to education for all children and support of the katsina State House Committee on Education for 35% positions for women in education, hinged his assertion on the premise that legislation would compel parents to take the enrollment, retention and transition of their children seriously.

“You have passed a law, a very important law for compulsory education but the law is just a paper unless we implement it. We are sitting here to develop a roadmap for these children back in Katsina; for them to be in schools and to be developed.

“The roadmap is not necessary unless we are sure that there is a plan to implement it and the children are in schools, we have good education system and recommended teachers to deliver education to children,” he stated.

Mr. Aziz, who described the compulsory education law as an important milestone, emphasized the need for appropriate follow up until every single child is sitting in school.

Meanwhile, a Katsina State high court judge, Justice Safiya Badamasi Umar (SAN), had pledged that the state judiciary would lend its weight in the fight against out of school children challenge.

Umar, the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) of Northern extraction turned jurist, gave the assurance while speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of the HiLWA workshop held in Kano.

According to her, the state judiciary would be ready to sanction defaulters of the compulsory education law once the stakeholders’ resolutions were given legal backing.

“The law is implementable because there are punishment sections in the law which carries penalty for defaulters. We in the judiciary are ever ready to punish whoever contravenes the law because it would go a long way in developing education in Katsina State,” said Safiya.