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By Paul Adams
In 2024, it is sad that the topic of out-of-school children is still current. Whether by war, neglect or a perverse culture, the sight of children roaming about or engaging in work without school in modern times is a worry. In Nigeria, the problem is massive with UNICEF declaring the country has around 20 million out-of-school children, the highest number in the world as at today:
The problem is more glaring in the northern part of the country, largely bloated by the almajiri system being practised by some northern Muslims. While previous administrations including the federal government under the Goodluck Jonathan administration intervened with policies such as nomadic education and Almajiri-modeled schools worth N15bn, the case even worsened. .
But in Kaduna, the governor, Senator Uba Sani, is on track to correcting this sad tradition. Recently, news filtered in that the state government wants to build 50 new schools. It seems his administration wants to bring Kaduna children back to school. For good. And with the building of schools and putting other measures in place, his administration targets getting 200, 000 out-of-school children back into the schools. Impressive.
“We are committed to tackling the challenge of out-of-school children in Kaduna State,” Sani said while declaring open the Reaching Out-of-School Children Start-Up Workshop in Kaduna last Monday. He reiterated that basic education is the right of every child.
“We believe that every child deserves access to quality education, regardless of their background or circumstances.”
As a unionist, perhaps it is the education inequality that drives Sani to embark on tackling the out-of-school children matter frontally. Speaking on six key focus areas of the administration in tackling the matter, the governor identified them as improving access, building and rehabilitating education infrastructure, building capacity of teachers, harnessing ICT to improve access and quality of education, prioritising girl-child education, and strengthening security in the state.
“We have already made significant strides in addressing these challenges,” Sani said at the event.
“For instance, we have built 62 new secondary schools across the three senatorial zones, while approval has been given for the construction of an additional 50 secondary schools. We have also recruited 2,000 qualified teachers, who are awaiting deployment to newly completed schools. We are committed to providing inclusive and accessible education for all, and we will continue to work tirelessly to achieve this goal.”
The attention Sani is devoting to education is commendable. Within one year of his administration, the state also built 2,326 new primary school classrooms. In addition, the state government also provided 30,742 two-seater desks for 61,484 pupils. These interventions attracted more children to school in the 2023/2024 academic session and reduced the number of out-of-school children from an estimated 680, 000 by over 300, 000. The goal is to further eliminate any number.
Thanking the development partners which included stakeholders, parents, community leaders, and civil society organisations, for the support shown to the state in tackling the challenge of out-of-school children, Governor Sani asked for more.
“We must all work together to ensure that every child in Kaduna State has access to quality education,” he said.
“We owe it to ourselves, our children, and our state to make this a reality.”
His appreciation is bearing fruits as in July, during the 2024 Access Bank Charity Polo Tournament, Access Bank constructed 60 classrooms in Maraban Jos, Kaduna. This is an increment from the 30 blocks of two classrooms each during the 2023 tournament
“Nigeria faces a profound challenge,” said Access Bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Roosevelt Ogbonna.
“Over 12 million of our children are out of school, with a significant number residing in the northern region. This unpleasant reality compels us to act, transforming despair into hope, and ensuring that every child is afforded the opportunity to dream and achieve. In line with our mission to drive prosperity across Africa, we are proud to flag off the construction of an additional 60 classrooms that will soon echo with the laughter and choruses of our young minds learning.”
Access Bank also intends to double enrollment at the Access Bank Fifth Chukker School to approximately 14,000 children. The school provides nursery and primary education and welfare for orphans, vulnerable and indigent children in Kaduna.
According to the State Coordinator of the Reaching Out-of-School Children Project, Ezra Angai, the project would involve constructing 102 new schools and renovation of 102 schools. It will also aim at getting 200,000 out-of-school children to school and training 8,780 SBMC members, and build the capacity of 511 officers in planning, budgeting, and monitoring. The teachers would also go through teacher professional development programmes, training, and capacity-building initiatives to ensure high levels of teacher competence and performance.
In attendance at the event were representatives of development partners, including the Islamic Development Bank, Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Global Partnership for Education, Education Above All, Save the Children International, and the United Nations Children’s Fund. They equally commended the state government for showing interest in how to solve the menace of out-of-school children.
Perhaps, most importantly, the state government is ensuring that students can safely attend schools by keying into the vision of the federal government to keep schools safe. Launched in 2022 by the federal government, the N144.8bn Safe Schools Financing Plan involves the Federal Ministry of Education, Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Department of State Security (DSS) and Defense Headquarters. Due to this development, attacks like the kidnapping of 135 students from the LEA Primary and Junior Secondary School, Kuriga, Chikun LGA, belong in the past.
“Kaduna is one of the states that has been waging a sustained battle against banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and other forms of criminality” the governor said in May at a stakeholders forum and training session for the newly established Schools’ Protection Squad (SPS), under the Safe School Initiative.
“These non–state actors have disrupted socio – economic activities in the affected communities and are threatening our educational revitalization programme. To ensure that the education of our children in conflict-prone and terrorist-infested areas is not interrupted, we have commenced the merging of 359 schools with those in safe locations. We are also implementing our ‘Safe School Program’ to strengthen the security in our primary and secondary schools. We are collaborating with the Nigeria Police Force which is currently training a Schools Protection Squad (SPS).”
The governor also said that 5, 000 personnels of the Kaduna Vigilance Service (KADVS) would be deployed to schools as School Protection Guards.
That education in Kaduna is improving is not by fluke. It is coming from concerted efforts. Let’s remember that in the 2024 budget of the state, education got the lion’s share of N115.4bn (25.19%). In 2025, close watchers don’t expect anything too different. That is a classic example of putting your money where your mouth is. For better quality of life, Sani is definitely sowing for not only Kaduna but the entire country, with his investment in education.
