Group returns 10,000 Kaduna out of school pupils back to classroom

From Femi Oyelola Kaduna

Over 10,000 out of school pupils are to return back to classroom courtesy of a Non-governmental Organization, Kathleen Heat Relief Foundation, (KHRF) Kathleen Karima Shehu, disclosed this during the first year anniversary celebration of the foundation in Kaduna yesterday.
Mrs. Kathleen Shehu who is an American, said the project will provide
free school uniforms, shoes, socks, school bags, pen/pencils. Exercise books free admission, saying every child has the right to education, sound health care and nutrition
According to her, the organization is trying to get enough funds to make more provisions for the kids in the state to go to schools. She explained that some of the kids are in schools already but they drop out, and some of them never been in schools, so she is trying to get all of them to be in the classroom for them could be better for themselves later on in life.
“Well today is the first day, for quite some times government has not heard from me, right now I am here and they are listening to everything I say in regards to the project. So, I wish government could visit our office and we talk about what it could do to help the foundation.
“We are equally calling on well-meaning Nigerians to come the foundation’s aid by providing basic funds,” she stressed.
In his keynote address, State Controller, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Kaduna, Mohammed Aminu Yusuf, said government has put machinery in place such as the National Policy on Child Labour and the action plan has been developed at the federal level and also down stepped to all the 36 states of the federation to check the menace of child labour.
Yusuf who was represented by the Chief Labour Officer in the Ministry, Yahaya Mohammed Kolo, added that the ministry is working in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Justice, Education, NBA and international development organizations like International Labour Organization, (ILO), UNICEF, UNDP, United State Department of Labour, and these have brought in lots of materials, resources and have built capacities and the ministry have been able to create awareness.
“Primarily, as labour officers, we are field officers and we visit organizations. So part of our responsibilities is to check this issue of child labour all over the states.
“So by and large, I would say government has done a lot, we have seen the statistics, government has been able to collate the data, and that has helped us to know where we are coming from and certain where we are heading to,” he said.