*community volunteers urged to be proactive
By; MKPUMA ENYINNA, Abakaliki
No fewer than 120 out of school children have been recovered in different communities in Afikpo South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State through the efforts of community volunteers in the area.
The volunteers were also charged to be more committed and dedicated in discharging their assignments.
The town hall meeting with community volunteers which took place in Owutu Edda Central School was organized by Ebonyi State Universal Basic Education Board in collaboration with UNICEF to evaluate the performance of community volunteers and know wether they are actually making use of the instructions given to them during the training as well as identifying some of the challenges before them and seeking ways of proferring solution to them.
In an interview with one of the community volunteers, Mr. Osita Williams Ufere stated that many of them could not believe that over 120 out of school children were recovered back to school through the help of the traditional rulers, churches and town union.
Mrs. Chima Grace Agha lamented that it is still difficult to convince the children to go back to school in the area, since they have a negative perception that those that are educated have nothing to show in the society.
In their separate reactions, Mr. Orji Ndukwe Andy and Akwu Aro Akwu noted that they have had several meetings with the traditional rulers, town union, churches, women group where they enacted a law that any child that is at home during school hours shall pay a fine of N5,000 with 20 strokes of cane, and if the parent questions why such punishment was given to their child, he or she shall be penalized with N10,000 for not allowing their children to go back to school.
Also speaking, the officer in charge of UNICEF Assisted Programmes in Ebonyi State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Christogunus Nweke stated that the purpose of the town hall meeting is to evaluate the performance of community volunteers in enrollment of out of school children.
According to Dr. Nweke, the community volunteers have been trained on how to go about enrollment drive in various communities.
He explained that traditional institutions, churches, August meeting, women groups among others, are strategic while carrying out enrollment drive, urging them to add more efforts to ensuring that all the children that dropped out and those that are yet to be enrolled for the first time are back to school.
The chairman of Ebonyi State Universal Basic Education Board, Chief Hycent Ikpor appreciated the efforts the community volunteers in bringing some of the children back, but however, frowned at the number of children they were able to recover back to school, urging them to add more efforts in the assignment given to them.
The chairman who was represented by the Director of Social Mobilization in Ebonyi State Universal Basic Education Board, Mrs. Maria Oselebe encouraged the volunteers to be diligent in their duty because those children are the future leaders.
She further explained that the two major categories of children needed are those who dropped out of school and those who are yet to be enrolled.
The town hall meeting was attended by the community volunteers and some principal officers from Ebonyi State Universal Basic Education Board, including the Director of School Services, Mr. Dominic Nwafor, among others.
