No fewer than 100,000 out-of-school children are been targeted by the Niger state government as it commenced the implementation of the At-Risk Children Programme (ARC-P).
Wife of the Governor Fatima Bago, at the take off of the training of facilitators for the programme, requested the programme be domiciled with a desk officer in the Ministries of Education, Small and Medium Enterprises and other relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies to make it more impactful.
A recent survey by the United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, shows that about 600,000 children dropped out of school in Nigeria state between 2021 and 2022 – figures that have caused the state government.
concern and led it to adopt the Federal Government’s At-Risk Children Programme, ARC-P, designed to support and empower vulnerable children through the provision of resources, guidance, and protection.
The Team Lead and Coordinator of ARC-P, Aisha Tafida, said 70,000 beneficiaries were initially targeted in the state, but this was increased to 100,000 by the state government.
The programme has 7 implementation components – Basic Literacy and Numeracy, Health and Nutrition, Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy, Vocational Skills, Creativity and Digital Skills.
Editor Oloyede Oworu
