A non-governmental organisation, Save the Children, has disclosed its plans to partner with the federal government in a bid to make education a priority in Nigeria.

Tove Wang, CEO of Save the Children Norway, made this known during a media briefing on the preparations for the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on the crisis in Nigeria.

The conference which is scheduled for February 23 and 24 in Norway, will focus on nutrition, protection, food security and also on the access to education.

The Save the Children organisation is an NGO that has been working in Nigeria since 2001, helping to improve health systems in northern Nigeria to deliver maternal, newborn, and child health services, including the revival of routine immunisation.

Ms. Wang noted that “there is a desperate need to prioritise education for children whose chances of fulfilling their potential are slipping away with each further day out of school.”

She, however, urged the Nigerian government and international community to ensure that the children’s future is not destroyed.

Ms. Wang, who recently visited the north-east, said that the crisis in such areas has greatly affected the education of most children.

“80per cent of displaced children live in host communities and have little or no access to education.

“Over 1,200 schools have been destroyed while more than 500 teachers killed and 19,000 displaced” she said.

Speaking on the efforts of her organisation, Ms. Wang said the organisation has enrolled a lot of children in its centres, and aims to establish more temporary learning spaces in camps and host communities.

This she said will serve as support to children’s access to formal education.

“We will also provide training to teachers and will work in communities hosting high numbers of displaced children, providing tuition fees, materials and school uniforms”.

Meanwhile, the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria seeks more than $1 billion to address the needs of those in crisis in the three most affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, with 75 partners ready to respond to those needs where areas area accessible.

This Humanitarian Response Plan will address the needs of almost 7 million people, in dire need of nutrition, food, shelter, health, education, protection and the water and sanitation needs of a very vulnerable population.