Children’s Day: UNICEF seeks end to violence against children
The Nasarawa State Commissioner, Permanent Secretary and other management staff of the Ministry of Education will invigilate the National Examination Council (NECO) following declaration of total strike by the organized Labour in the state.
The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Abdullahi Aliyu-Agwai, in response to complaints from parents and guardians in Lafia, said that despite the ongoing strike in the state, NECO examination would hold as the ministry had made adequate arrangements to ensure a hitch free examination.
He assured parents and guardians
Tthat the strike would not affect the examination and appealed to them to send to their wards to school, adding, “not all teachers are on strike. There are chief inspectors of education, principals and vice principals. This category if deployed would even be more than enough to invigilate the examination in all centers across the state”.
The Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) on May 12 embarked on an indefinite strike to press home their demands of better welfare for members.
Meanwhile, the state ASUSS chairman, Gabriel Agbashi, has directed its members too remain at home until their demands are made. he United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in marking the 2017 Children’s Day yesterday called for an end to violence against children and adoption of Child Rights Act in all states.
Celebrating the Day with the theme, “Child protection and the Sustainable Development Goals” UNICEF called for urgent action to adopt the Child Rights Act across all states and to heed the president’s call to end violence against children.
According to a 2014 survey by the National Population Commission, with support from UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, six out of ten Nigerian children experience at least one form of violence before they reach the age of 18.
UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Muhammed Fall, said, “each one of us is responsible for creating a world where children feel safe, protected and empowered to speak up for themselves”.
In line with the Sustainable Development Goal to end all forms of violence against children by 2030, Nigeria has launched a Campaign to End Violence Against Children by 2030, which reinforces the Presidential call to end such violence. The Federal Capital Territory and Kano State marked Children’s Day by launching campaigns to end violence against children and Gombe State will launch its campaign on June 7.