Jigawa governor, speaker target another 8,000 out-of-school children in enrollment drive

Jigawa State Governor, Umar Namadi and the Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Haruna Aliyu, have launched an enrollment drive campaign targeting about 8,000 out-of-school children in Miga Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

The speaker, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), enrolled and supported about 300 children back to school at Sabuwar Dallan community—one of the communities with a high burden of out-of-school children in the LGA.

These efforts are part of the commitments by the 30 members of the State Assembly and the state government to reduce the high number of out-of-school children in the 27 LGAs of the state by 90 percent by the year 2030, with a view to meeting the target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The speaker, said that under his leadership, the enrollment campaign to return out-of-school children to school has been carried out across all 30 constituencies in the state.

“The enrollment campaign you are witnessing today has been held across various constituencies in the state by the lawmakers to ensure that no child is left out of school under my leadership.

“The 300 children that are supported and taken back to school at Sabuwar Dallan community is a step forward in making sure that all the 8,000 school-going children in Miga are enrolled back to school, and we will continue doing so with the state government, and other partners”, Mr Aliyu said.

The Speaker, Aliyu Haruna

Mr Aliyu provided the 300 children with school uniforms, bags, and exercise books and pledged to sustain the initiative across the council area until all children received their right to education.

The governor, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Bala Mamser, commended the speaker. He said the programme is in line with the state government’s vision for education development.

Mr Mamser said the state government has identified shortage of school teachers at the basic level as one of the major impediments to educational advancement in the state and swiftly acted by employing more than six thousand qualified teachers within the administration’s first year.

The Mamser said Governor Namadi split the Ministry of Education into basic and higher education, each with a commissioner to ensure efficiency. He added that attention was given to the basic level to get more children in school and teachers to teach them.

He said teacher recruitment would continue in the state until all the classes have adequate number of teachers. “This will allow the state to attain its full educational potential in producing more doctors, engineers, and others who can contribute meaningfully to the development of the state and the country,” he stated.