Zulum: Number of out-of-school children in Borno reduced from 2m to 800k

Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno, says his administration has reduced the number of out-of-school children in the state from over 2 million to 800,000.

Zulum spoke on Tuesday during the inauguration of 27 local government education secretaries, and distribution of 57 schools monitoring vehicles, in Maiduguri, the state capital.

The activities of terrorist groups in Borno led to a spike in the number of out-of-school children.

After the 2014 abduction at the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno, many learning centres in the northern region have been targeted by terrorists.

According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), over 2,400 incidents of grave violations by insurgents have been verified, affecting over 6,800 children in the north-east.

In 2022, the Borno government introduced the Risks Children Programme (ARC-P) to provide mentorship for out-of-school children.

“Since assuming office in 2019, education has been a paramount focus of my administration,” NAN quoted Zulum as saying.

“Initially, our efforts were directed towards rebuilding our devastated school infrastructure to provide access to over two million out-of-school children in Borno.

“I am grateful that, by the grace of Allah, the number of out-of-school children has now decreased to less than 800,000.”

He added that vehicles handed to the local government education authorities are to enhance movement, adding that they must be used solely for official purposes.

The governor urged the commissioner for education to present quarterly reports on the performance of every secretary, adding that those found lagging would be removed.