Governor Inuwa Yahaya
This was disclosed by the State Chairman of SUBEB, Mr Babaji Babadidi during a one-day stakeholders’ engagement organised for the 2025 enrolment drive campaign.
He said that the campaign aimed to sensitise stakeholders and the general public on the importance of collaboration in creating an enabling environment to accelerate the enrolment of out-of-school children in schools.
“This programme is an accelerated initiative geared towards reducing the number of out-of-school children.
“One of the major factors contributing to children being out of school is the limited sensitisation and awareness campaigns. These challenges have prompted UBEC and SUBEB to embark on a holistic approach to decisively address the issue,” he said.
Babadidi revealed that each Local Government Area (LGA) has been given a target to enrol no fewer than 10,000 pupils for the 2025/2026 academic year, making a total of 110,000 pupils across the state.
On her part, the state’s Commissioner of Education, Dr Aishatu Umar Maigari, stated that the figures of out-of-school children in Gombe State have been harmonised based on age group, gender, and children living with disabilities.
She said they have a Framework of Action for out-of-school children in the state, supported by UNICEF, and another framework which focuses on Almajiri education.
According to her, each of the 11 LGAs of the state has one model Tsangaya school and three bilingual schools with a capacity of 1,000 students. “Once we mobilise these students, we have the facilities to accommodate them,” Dr Maigari stated.
She further said enrolment should increase to 20,000 pupils per LGA, up from the initial 10,000 target, bringing the new total to 220,000 pupils across the state.
