UNICEF is working with Gombe State to make a plan for four years. This plan will help reduce the number of children who are not going to school in the state.
Mr. Abdulraham Ado, who is an expert in education in the state, talked about this with reporters in Gombe on Thursday. They talked about this during a meeting where they discussed how to solve the problem.
Mr. Ado said UNICEF already made a plan for the whole country to reduce the number of children who are not going to school. Now they want to make a similar plan just for Gombe State.
They are bringing together different people who are involved in education to talk about this plan. They want to make a specific plan to help more children go to school.
This plan will not only focus on children who are already in school but also on those who are not going to school.
“What we are doing now is developing a specific action plan on how to reduce the rate of out-of-school children”
They want to improve the education system to make sure children can learn well in school.
The Education Commissioner of Gombe State, Prof. Aishatu Maigari, also talked about the challenges they face.
She said because of problems like fighting in the Northeast, many people have had to leave their homes and come to Gombe State.
This has made it harder to make sure all children can go to school. She said there are too many children for the classrooms in the state, and many of them are not even from Gombe State.
“In 2019, the number of out-of-school children in Gombe State was 550,000, and now it is about 700,000.
She said “Hypothetically, if we budget for 20 pupils in our classroom, we will find out that there are 50 pupils, and 30 of the pupils are not even from Gombe State.”
She thanked UNICEF for helping Gombe State with education. The meeting included different kinds of people like leaders from the community, religious leaders, groups that work for society, and people from the education board.
