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By Isaac Mission
The National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE) has called for collaboration with the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB) to tackle the growing number of out-of-school children and youths in nomadic communities across the state.
The proposed partnership is aimed at implementing the Accelerated Basic Education Programme (ABEP), with particular attention to children and young people whose living conditions have made it difficult for them to access conventional schools.
The commission made the appeal during a strategic engagement with ENSUBEB in Enugu, where it presented findings from a study and enrolment exercise carried out across 10 local government areas of the state.
Representing the Executive Secretary of NCNE, Prof. Haruna Bashir Usman, Dr Rose Nwaji, Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, said the commission was seeking to move beyond research by translating the data gathered into actual enrolment and sustained participation in education.
The study covered Aninri, Awgu, Enugu East, Ezeagu, Igboetiti, Igboeze North, Isi-Uzo, Nsukka, Oji River and Udenu Local Government Areas.
According to the commission's findings, Isi-Uzo recorded the highest number of nomadic out-of-school children among the areas surveyed, with 372 identified cases. Aninri followed with 206, while other communities also recorded children and youths requiring targeted educational intervention.
Chidiebere Ugwu of the Audit Department, who presented the findings, explained that the research and subsequent enrolment exercise provided the commission with information needed to design an education model suited to the realities of nomadic communities.
He said the proposed programme would maintain alignment with the conventional school curriculum while introducing adjustments that reflect the environment, lifestyle and specific learning needs of children living in nomadic settlements.
Ugwu noted that the broader goal was to ensure that school-age children and youths were not denied access to education because of their location, lifestyle or economic circumstances.
He further explained that NCNE is among the implementing partners of ABEP in selected pilot states, particularly in efforts targeting nomadic children and youths who are outside the formal education system.
According to him, working closely with ENSUBEB would help strengthen efforts in areas such as identifying out-of-school children, community mobilisation, enrolment, curriculum delivery, teacher support, monitoring and evaluation.
Responding on behalf of the ENSUBEB Executive Chairman, Hon. Mrs Uche Eze, Permanent Member II of the Board, welcomed the NCNE delegation and expressed the board's willingness to explore areas of collaboration.
Eze commended the commission for using research and reliable data to identify children who are being left out of the education system, noting that accurate information was crucial to effective educational planning.
She also highlighted the investment of Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah's administration in basic education, particularly the construction of 267 Smart Green Schools across the state's 260 political wards.
According to her, the infrastructure being provided by the state offers an important foundation for expanding access to education, but school construction must be matched with deliberate efforts to locate and enrol children who are currently outside the system.
Eze described the ABEP initiative and NCNE's intervention as timely, particularly for children whose circumstances make attendance at conventional schools difficult.
The engagement ended with NCNE presenting curriculum materials, textbooks and writing materials to ENSUBEB officials to support educational activities.
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