Jigawa govt, lawmakers, UNICEF intensify enrolment of out-of-school children in schools

Some members of Jigawa State House of Assembly, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), have enrolled children in schools in their respective constituencies.

These efforts are part of the commitments by the 30 members of the State Assembly to reduce the high number of out-of-school children in the 27 Local Government Areas of the state by 90 per cent by 2030 with a view to meeting the target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The measures tally with the vision of the state government. Through the purposeful inspiration of Governor Umar Namadi, the Jigawa State House of Assembly had in September passed a bill for the creation of a Tsangaya Education Board to address the menace of out-of-school children in the state. The executive bill forwarded by the Governor Namadi aims to integrate Tsangaya (Almajiri) schools into the mainstream educational system.

A member representing Gumel constituency and the Deputy Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Sani Isyaku Abubakar, told reporters on Sunday in Gumel that all his colleagues have identified huge numbers of out-of-school children in their respective local government areas (LGAs) and were making deliberate efforts to design programmes and policies to address them.

Mr Abubakar, at an interactive session with stakeholders at Garin Barka Primary School in Gumel, distributed free uniforms, school bags, and stipends to about 1,800 children he identified and enrolled in schools.

“Today’s event is the happiest in my political career because we have identified about 4000 out-of-school children in Gumel LGA, out of which I rolled back the figure by enrollment of 1,800 in the LGA and hope to close the gaps in a few months ahead.

“I have encouraged the students with free uniforms and other learning materials. I was a beneficiary of free education from basic level up to university, and I am advocating for the upcoming generation to get access to education. By doing so, I am paying back to my community,” Mr Abubakar said.

The lawmaker added that he plans to sustain the efforts by assisting the children and their parents through routine government economic empowerment programmes as encapsulated in Governor Namadi’s 12-point agenda.

Also, a member representing Hadejia, Abubakar Jallo, in a similar event in Hadejia, said he is glad that his constituency is among the council areas with the least number of out-of-school children, holding about 2,200 of them.

He said all the children had been identified and enrolled back in school, and support had been given to ensure their continued attendance.

Mr Jallo said he was working to address the problem by enlightening parents, communities, and stakeholders on the need for collective action to reduce the number of out-of-school children.

UNICEF’s Education Manager for the Kano Field Office, Michael Banda described the commitment of both the Governor Namadi and the lawmakers as encouraging in addressing the menace of out-of-school children in the state.

At the roll back to school campaign programme in Gumel, Mr Banda said education is key to development, urging parents and community leaders to key into the programme. He added that development at individual, community, and state levels cannot take place unless education is there as a social catalyst.

Mr Banda identified various categories of out-of-school children in the state in which officials are working to address. The categories include children who never enrolled in school and those who enrolled in school but at one time dropped out of school.

He said other children could not continue schooling because of difficult circumstances such as lack of resources or family support, while others succumbed to family pressure to be hawkers on the street or to get married early.

He said the various categories are counted as out-of-school children, adding that UNICEF was supporting the state government to ensure that all these categories of children were enrolled in schools.

Mr Banda said it is the responsibility of the parents to ensure that every child is supported to access school and be in school to learn because every child has a right to education.