UNICEF urges government to ensure every child enjoys right to play
Published By: Paul Dada
By Maduabuchi Nmeribeh/Kano
The United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF) has called on government at all levels to ensure the right of children to play even as they learn and acquire knowledge in schools.
UNICEF Kano Chief of Field Office, Mr. Rahama Rihood Mohammed Farah stated his during the the celebration of the United Nations International Day of Play (DOP) 2024 held at Kwalli Special Primary School, Kano Municipal Local G overnment Area, Kano State.
According to him, Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child (UNCRC) recognized the right of children and young people to rest and have leisure, engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to their age, and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.
He said the marking of the first International Day of Play by the United Nations on June 11, 2024 was aligned to the global momentum, ” to communicate the centrality of play to child development; advocate with governments to act and invest in ensuring every child enjoys the right to play.”
Farah noted that sustainable Development Goal (SDG) seeks to ensure that, by 2030, “all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood
development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education. Therefore, pre-primary education is
now considered by the Nigerian Government as an essential tool
for achieving Universal Primary Education and the SDGS.”
He further stated that a key element to consider is ‘learning through play’ or ‘playful learning,’ which is central to quality early childhood education, pointing out that the marking of the International Day of Play is to advocate and remind all pre-primary stakeholders for making play-based or
playful learning a central aspect of expanding and strengthening
the pre-primary sub-sector.
“The goal is to share practical ideas on how to embed play and child-centred pedagogy in pre-primary education expansion efforts. Financing for appropriate learning materials, equipment and professional supports that promote play does not need to be costly but does need to promote relevance and diversity in scope.
“For example, nationally relevant, low-cost materials can be explored as governments develop pre-primary learning resource packages for each classroom. To support Early Childhood Education, UNICEF Kano Field Office has supported the training of over 1,000 Early Child Care Development (ECD) teachers, equipping them with the required skills to provide early childhood education opportunities to over
200,000 children, on Learning Through Play (LTP) in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states.
“To add to the state contribution to Early Child Care Education and
promote the culture of play in our schools, l am happy to announce
a donation of play materials to Kwalli Primary School ECD classes,” Farah said.
He congratulated the government and people of Kano State on the bold decision to declare a state of emergency in the Kano State Education sector, and reiterated UNICEF continued
support to Kano State Government to provide age-appropriate
education as opportunity for school preparedness.
In her remarks the headmistress of Kwalli Special Primary School, Hajiya Hassana Umar Aminu, hinted that UNICEF has been supportive to the growth and development of the school.
According to her, the school established in 1960 presently has a total enrollment of 800 pupils, with 453 males and 347 females.
The headmistress hinted that the first contribution of UNICEF to the school was the training of six SBMC members on their roles and responsibilities, which led to the bringing back of 20 out-of-school pupils back to school.
She also commended UNICEF for supplying drugs to the school and ensuring that children who graduate from the primary school attend Junior Secondary School.
Hajiya Hassana also thanked UNICEF for supporting the training of teachers of primary school on formative assessment which led to the teachers tracking on daily lesson progression and also daily progress of pupils.
The headmistress further appreciated UNICEF for training all ECC teachers in Kwalli Special Primary School which enhanced their skills of ECC teaching and learning.
