By Suzan Edeh

Bauchi—Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, Alhaji Abdullahi Dabo, said yesterday that no fewer than 76,300 girls in the state were out of school.

Dabo made this known in Bage, Shira Local Government Area of the state at the 2014/2015 School Enrollment Drive Campaign.

Dabo, who was represented by the Board’s Permanent Commissioner, Alhaji Kasim Ibrahim, said the figure was collated from 466 communities in the state between March and April, with financial and technical support from UNICEF.

He said: “The figure shows that there is still a lot of work to be done to improve the situation if our girls must be properly and adequately educated. If we want to successfully fight poverty in our communities, we must ensure that our girls, who are among the most vulnerable in every community, are properly and adequately educated.

“With education, employment opportunities will be broadened, income levels increased and maternal and child health will also be improved.”
Dabo said the state government had introduced free education as part of efforts to ensure people of the state were educated.

He noted that the alarming rate of out of school children in the state necessitated SUBEB to organise the campaign to ensure that communities, religious and traditional leaders, and parents, were sensitised and encouraged to enroll all children of five to six years in school.