Speaker of the Jigawa State House of Assembly, Alhaji Haruna Dangyatun has declared state of emergency on Out-of-School Children in Jigawa state.
He made the declaration at a one-day commitment meeting with the Jigawa House of Assembly members organised by State Basic Education Board SUBEB in Kaduna.
He explained that the high number of out-of-school children in Jigawa, which they learned about during the meeting, was alarming.
Alhaji Haruna Dangyarun instructed all members of the Assembly to return to their constituencies for at least a week to intervene on the issue.
“I have ordered my honorable members to move to their wards in order to investigate the figures in their areas, so that we can synergize and bring a lasting solution.
“We have been trusted by our people, therefore it is an obligation on us to address this issue, even if it means using our personal resources,”
Earlier, a member representing Hadejia Local Government Area of Jigawa, Alhaji Abubakar Jallo, revealed that the issue needs collective effort.
He described the menace of out of school children and school drop outs, as a time bomb, which needs an urgent action.
Jallo also tasked stakeholders in education, to study and differentiate between almajiri pupils and out of school children, who lack both formal and informal education.
According to him, whenever the issue of out of school children arises, their minds take them to the almajiris who are in the informal schools.
“But we have failed to admit that there are children in our communities who don’t even have access to both formal and informal education for one reason or the other.”
Therefore, Jallo advised the house to take the matter serious in order to leave a laudable and a lasting legacy on education.
Jigawa state Bureau for statistic, revealed that about 38.5 per cent of children between ages 5-14 are out of school.
It also revealed that about 32.3 per cent of youths between 15-17 years in the state have never attended schools.
COV/USMAN MZ
