Group tasks government on education for all children, canvasses new policies

Education starts from the home. The first teachers a child encounters in life are the parents. It is informal. But it etches in the memory of the child long-lasting impressions.

The Association for Formidable Educational Development (AFED) yesterday called on the Federal Government to proiritise the education of all children in the country, especially those from poor families.

The non-governmental organisation (NGO), which is committed to providing low-cost education to children, cited the increasing number of out-of-school children in the country and the dangers associated with the trend.

It, therefore, challenged the Federal Government to create policies that would enable schools to function optimally and help reduce the number of out-of-school children across the country.

Vice President of the association, Michael Adeyemo, who spoke during the 2017 AFED Congress, said favourable policies would not only help the group attain its vision and mission for vulnerable children, but would also accelerate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals Four (SDGs) by 2030.

He said government and all concerned stakeholders must act fast and partner the AFED schools in addressing the situation, which was endangering the country’s future at the moment.

Adeyemo pointed out that the group has been enjoying the support of the United Kingdom (UK’s) Department for International Development (DFID), through its Developing Effective Private Education Nigeria (DEEPEN) initiative.

It charged the Federal Government to partner with UK to provide incentives that would enable AFED achieve its set objectives.The congress with the theme: “The Role of Low Cost Education Institutions in the Pursuit of 2030 SDGs Education Sector Target,” scheduled for Friday, June 23, 2017, in Lagos, he said, was aimed at devising means through which all children will be taken off the streets.

Corroborating Adeyemo’s view, the General Secretary of the group, Orji Kanu Emmanuel, urged the Federal Government to formulate policies that would help address the challenges confronting poor schools in the interest of the Nigerian children and the country’s future.