By Najib Sani, Gombe
Gombe State government has implemented a multifaceted approach that has yielded promising results in tackling the issue of out-of-school children.
According to data, the state has over 700,000 out-of-school children just as other Nigerian states grapple with the problem.
The state commissioner for education, Professor Aishatu Maigari, has stated that under the leadership of Governor Inuwa Yahaya, the state has taken bold steps to address the challenge, setting a shining example for other states to follow.
Speaking during a one-day stakeholders engagement meeting for the 2025 Enrolment Drive Campaign organised by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) in collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Monday, the governor said the state has harmonised data on out-of-school children based on age group, gender, and children living with disabilities.
This data-driven approach, she said has enabled the government to develop targeted interventions, including the Retention, Transition, and Completion (RTC) model.
"The RTC model has been instrumental in identifying vocational skills for out-of-school children and Almajiri pupils, providing them with six to nine months of intensive coaching to prepare them for SSCE, WAEC, and MBIS examinations", she said
Maigari added that the state has also introduced the Accelerated Senior Secondary Education Programme, catering to older students who cannot start from Primary One.
In his address, the chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Gombe State, Mr Babaji Babadidi, explained that the event aimed to sensitise stakeholders and the general public on the importance of collaboration in creating an enabling environment that would accelerate the return of out-of-school children to school.
He added that the meeting would explore how to ensure that children are enrolled at the appropriate time and date.
"Each Local Government Area (LGA) has been given a target to enrol no fewer than 10,000 pupils for the 2025/2026 academic year, making a total of 110,000 pupils across the state", he stated.
The strategy he opined would reduce the number of out-of-school children by 50 per cent by 2030.
The lead facilitator at the event from the UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, Mohammed Kudi, emphasised the importance of creating awareness and informing stakeholders about their roles and responsibilities in returning out-of-school children to the classrooms, retaining them, and ensuring they complete their education.
He added that nationally, over 80.3 per cent of children are out of school in Nigeria pointing out that in Gombe State, the initial figure was 500,000, but it has now risen to 737,000, representing 13 per cent of the state's population.
Our correspondent reports that the meeting was attended by traditional leaders, religious leaders, educationists and policy makers in the state.
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