EXCLUSIVE: Yahaya Calls For Urgent Action Against Out-of-school Children In Gombe

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Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe has called for urgent and collaborative action to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the state.

Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe has called for urgent and collaborative action to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the state.

Yahaya stated this during a one-day stakeholder engagement for the 2025 Enrolment Drive Campaign in Gombe.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme was organised by the state government in collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Yahaya, represented by the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Aishatu Maigari, emphasised the need for immediate, collective efforts to address the alarming education gap.

According to him, Gombe has harmonised its data on out-of-school children, disaggregated by age, gender and disability status.

The governor noted that Gombe was the only state in the country with two comprehensive frameworks, one for out-of-school children and another specifically for Almajiri education, both supported by UNICEF.

“We have adopted the Retention, Transition and Completion (RTC) model and we have identified vocational skills for out-of-school and Almajiri children.

“We are enrolling older learners into accelerated programmes to prepare them for SSCE, WAEC and MBIS exams,” he said.

Yahaya further revealed that some beneficiaries are as old as 17 years and could not be expected to start from primary school.

“We are graduating 20 adult learners very soon and have domesticated the Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Bill, with a dedicated board established to oversee its implementation,” he said.

In response to the growing challenge, the governor announced the increase in the 2025/2026 enrolment target from 10,000 to 20,000 pupils per local government area, bringing the total target to 220,000 across the state.

He further said each local government area in the state now has one model Tsangaya school and three bilingual schools, with the capacity to accommodate up to 1,000 students each.

In his remarks, Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education (SUBEB), Mr Babaji Babadidi, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to providing quality education for all.

Babadidi noted that the campaign was a holistic initiative to address the root causes of low school enrolment, including poverty, low awareness and socio-economic challenges.

“Education is a powerful tool for societal development.

“We need all hands on deck, and today’s programme targets behavioural change strategies, using jingles, drama, and grassroots communication, to ensure children not only return to school but stay and complete their education,” he said.

Also speaking, UNICEF’s representative, Mohammed Kudi from the Bauchi Field Office, said that the out-of-school children crisis was most severe in Northern Nigeria, especially the North-East.

Kudi noted that the number of out-of-school children in Gombe had risen from 500,000 to 737,000, representing 13 percent of the state’s population.

“The situation is indeed alarming, but with strong political will, active community involvement, and well-coordinated efforts like this campaign, it is a challenge we are determined to overcome,” he said.

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