The Kaduna State Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has intensified efforts to improve access to quality education and healthcare for children and women in remote and underserved areas of the state.
UNICEF’s Country Representative in Nigeria, Ms. Wafa Abdelatef, led a field monitoring visit on Tuesday to assess the progress of various interventions aimed at enhancing learning outcomes and healthcare delivery in Kaduna.
The visit began at Government Secondary School, Mararaban Jos — a facility upgraded through a partnership involving UNICEF, Access Bank, and the Fifth Chukker Polo Club. The school now offers a safer and more conducive learning environment for students.
The delegation also visited Karofi, Zangon-Aya in Igabi Local Government Area, where UNICEF supports a pilot Integrated Qur’anic Education Programme. The initiative targets almajiris and out-of-school children, providing them with foundational literacy and numeracy skills alongside religious education.
Abdelatef expressed satisfaction with the progress recorded, noting that the children were now gaining both religious and formal education. She emphasized that the goal was not just to expand access but to ensure quality learning for every child.
“Children now attend school three times weekly to learn literacy and numeracy in a culturally relevant environment,” she explained. “UNICEF remains committed to supporting the Kaduna State Government and communities to sustain these gains.”
The monitoring team also visited Tudun Kasa, Wuchichiri Ward in Zaria LGA, where an integrated mobile outreach programme is providing essential healthcare services — including immunisation, antenatal care, nutrition support, and disease screening.
Abdelatef praised the high turnout of women and children, describing the initiative as life-saving and effective in combating malnutrition, one of Kaduna’s major child health challenges. She commended the state government for investing in therapeutic foods and other life-saving supplies, noting that vaccination coverage was on the rise.
Dr. Abubakar Idris, Director of Public Health at the Kaduna State Ministry of Health, explained that the mobile outreach was designed to reach hard-to-access communities with comprehensive healthcare services. These include nutrition counselling, immunisation, malaria and tuberculosis screening, and practical demonstrations on preparing nutritious local meals.
He revealed that Kaduna State had renovated 255 primary health centres and 15 secondary health facilities to strengthen service delivery and sustain the outreach model. Idris added that the government allocated 16 per cent of its 2025 budget to health, surpassing the Abuja Declaration benchmark, and co-financed nutrition commodities with UNICEF.
At Zangon-Aya, community leader Abdulrasheed Suleiman commended UNICEF’s support for the Qur’anic school, noting that the intervention had transformed children’s education by integrating structured learning that promotes discipline and moral development.
Similarly, the head of the Qur’anic school, Yakubu Zakari-Yau, said the introduction of foundational literacy had significantly improved pupils’ reading and writing skills, bridging the gap between religious and basic education.
At Tudun Kasa, the village head, Abubakar Ibrahim, expressed gratitude to the Kaduna State Government and UNICEF for bringing healthcare services closer to rural residents, saying the initiative would help reduce child mortality and improve maternal health outcomes.
With these joint efforts, Kaduna and UNICEF continue to strengthen education and healthcare systems in the state, ensuring that no child or woman is left behind in the quest for inclusive development.