Stakeholders, UNICEF, Others Task Government As World Marks International Day Of Education

International Day of Education is observed every year on January 24 to celebrate the role of education for peace and development.

As Nigeria joins other nations of the world to celebrate International Day of Education, stakeholders have stressed the need to transform the sector, especially as the world prepares to navigate the post-pandemic era.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), this year’s theme, ‘Changing Course, Transforming Education’, harps on why education must be recovered.

As a result, the stakeholders called for more focus on social and emotional components of learning to revive education.

They said it is imperative to give attention to the physical and mental health of children and educators.

This, they said, is due to stress-related events associated with the pandemic, which have impacted learning trajectory.

Meanwhile, United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, lamented that at least 10 million children are out of school in Nigeria, the highest rate in the world.

He added that as the International Day of Education is celebrated amid concerns about the impact of the pandemic protocols on education, the world must take a closer look at what is happening to children in Nigeria, and the opportunities they are missing out on when they lack education.

In a related development, former Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki has asked Nigerians to dedicate the International Day of Education to victims of murder, kidnapping, bullying and assaults among other social vices.

In a statement released by his Media Office in Abuja, Saraki denounced the recent trend of bullying, abduction, assault, and murder of school children by schoolmates, teachers, and kidnappers, and called for concerted efforts at the state and federal levels to curb such violence.