Education Stakeholders in Bauchi call for review, Harmonisation of OOSC figures.
Group Photograph of participants at the 1-day UNICEF GEP 3 dissemination of findings engagement.
By Abubakar Baba Ahmad.
Development Partners, Civil Society Organisations CSOs and other Education Stakeholders have been urged to liaise and come up with a harmonised and acceptable data on the actual number of Out of School Children OOSC in Bauchi State.
The Permanent Secretary State Universal Basic Education Board SUBEB Alhaji Saleh Yakubu Ningi made the call at a 1-day dissemination of findings from the evaluation of Girls Education Project Phase 3 GEP 3 and SDG 4 organised by the State Ministry of Education, SUBEB with support from UNICEF Bauchi Field Office.
Alhaji Saleh Ningi represented by the Director Upper Basic Alhaji Korijo Buba said Bauchi being a peaceful state has become a destination for migrants, IDPs, Almajiri and herders from neighbouring states leading to rising number of children roaming the streets and an overstretched infrastructure in public schools.
He appealed to development partners, CSOs and other education stakeholders to carefully assess the situation and come up with the actual figure of OOSC for better planning of educational support and interventions across the state.
Declaring the meeting open, the State Commissioner of Education Dr. Jamila Dahiru represented by the Director, Science, Technical and Vocational Education Alhaji Dauda Yakubu said the successes recorded in GEP 3 Project through the implementation of components to include second chance education, G4G, Mothers Association, Cash Transfer have brought about the enrolment, retention and completion especially among the girl child.
Dr Jamila Dahiru said the state government has earmarked huge amount of money in its consolidated budget to fulfill the promise of giving sound education to every child in the state.
On his part, the Emir of Bauchi Dr Rilwanu Suleimanu Adamu represented by Danejin Bauchi Alhaji Lawan Ma’aji thanked governor Bala Mohammad for appointing him to lead the Education Committee, stressing the need gor more involvement of the traditional institution especially in rural areas to address the rising cases of out of school children and school dropouts.
In their separate presentations, the UNICEF Nigeria Education Specialist Abdurrahman Ibrahim and the Education Officer UNICEF Bauchi Field Office Mr. Raphael Aiyedipe said the GEP project which exceeded the target enrolment by four hundred thousand, has advanced the cause for girl child education in the last eighteen years.
In their various Goodwill messages, the State Director General of Sustainable Development Goals Mrs Lydia Shehu, Secretaries of BASANE Ibrahim Ardo, BASAME Yakubu Dahuwa expressed concern over the poor enrollment of girls in schools, saying that SDG 4 target was to have a substantive number of the girl child in school.
