By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
A project aimed at returning adolescent mothers whose education was disrupted by early marriage or pregnancy back to school has been launched in Bauchi Local Government Area of Bauchi State. The initiative targets improved access, retention, and completion of secondary education for vulnerable girls across selected communities.
The three-year project, known as the Adolescent Mothers Education Access (AMEA) Project, is being implemented by the Bauchi-based civil society organisation, Women, Children, Youth Health and Education Initiative (WCY), with support from the Malala Fund. It will be executed in Bauchi, Dambam, and Katagum Local Government Areas of the state.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ engagement in Bauchi, WCY AMEA Project Officer, Kamal Ali Bello, said the project seeks to advance the education rights of adolescent girls through effective implementation of the Child Rights Law and stronger coordination among government, civil society, community, and media actors. He explained that the project will strengthen education policy implementation, promote social and behavioural change supportive of girls’ education—including married and pregnant girls—and enhance WCY’s institutional capacity for sustainability.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of WCY and Malala Education Champion Network (ECN), Rashida Musa Mukaddas, noted that despite existing policies, many girls still face structural, social, and institutional barriers to school re-entry and retention. She said the AMEA Project was designed to address these gaps by improving policy enforcement, coordination, and community-level action through partnerships with key institutions and stakeholders.
Mukaddas stressed that the success of the project depends on collective action, adding that the engagement marked a shared commitment to ensuring that every girl—particularly married, pregnant, and adolescent mothers—has the opportunity to access and complete her education.
The meeting drew participants from the Ministry of Education, SUBEB, LEA, CSOs, traditional institutions, and labour unions, with goodwill messages delivered by the District Head of Bauchi and education stakeholders.
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