Bauchi State moves to tackle Out of School Children menace.
SUBEB Director School Services Korijo Buba answering questions from journalists
By Abubakar Baba Ahmad.
Bauchi State Government says it has adopted and introduced measures towards reducing the over 1.2 million Out of School Children OOSC in the state.
The Executive Chairman State Universal Basic Education Board SUBEB Dr Surunbai Sheikh Dahiru gave the indication while making a presentation on Key Government Intervention to reduce OOSC at a UNICEF Media Dialogue in Bauchi.
Dr Surunbai Sheikh Dahiru represented by the Director School Services SUBEB Korijo Buba listed some of the measures to include eye screening for over three thousand pupils, adoption of the Learn to Read, Mu Karanta and RANA projects, abolition of corporal punishment on pupils and recruitment of teachers.
Surunbai Dahiru further enumerated other key interventions such as collection of quality education data, reward system to deserving teachers and pupils, elimination of school levies, provision of uniforms-learning materials and school feeding, construction of water points and classrooms among others.
In another presentation on the Menace of Out of School Children in the state, the Director Admin and Human Resource Ministry of Education Bauchi Malam Yakubu Ahmad who noted that even with key interventions Bauchi still tops the list in number of out of school children in the country with Bauchi and Alkaleri LGAs leading in the state, more needs to be done to change the narrative.
Malam Yakubu Ahmad stressed the need for attitudinal change as well as formulation and implementation of policies targeting key communities based on problem peculiarities.
2022 Data from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) acquired by Radio Nigeria Indicates that Bauchi State currently tops the list of Out of School Children in the country with 1,239,759, while Zamfara, Katsina and Kano followed as second, third and fourth with 883,952; 873,633 and 837,479 respectively.
