Wife of Bauchi State governor, Hajiya Hadiza Abubakar, has awarded scholarships to 115 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and vulnerable children.
The scholarship was provided to the beneficiaries through her Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Bauchi Sustainable Women Economic Empowerment and Peace Initiative (BSWEEP).
Speaking during the occasion, Mrs Abubakar stated that the scholarship was given to the beneficiaries to help them acquire education which she said is the bedrock of national development.
She added that the beneficiaries were drawn from IDPs in the state, vulnerable children as well as 15 selected female pupils with special needs from Special Education Centre, Yelwa, Bauchi.
Mrs Abubakar further informed that 50 of the beneficiaries are in junior secondary schools, while 50 others are in senior secondary school.
She said that the scholarship covers registration fees, guardian and counselling fees, computer registration, PTA levy, set of uniforms and compound wears, pairs of sandals and socks, English and Mathematics textbooks as well as exercise books.
According to the governor’s wife, children with disability are 10 times less likely to attend school than those without disability.
She noted that even if they attend school they are more likely to drop out early and the level of education they receive is frequently below that of their peers and that girls with disabilities experience greater exclusion and discrimination as a result of their disabilities and gender.
"To address this and shape future of the IDPs, vulnerable children as well as those with special needs to become more productive in the society, the Bauchi Sustainable Women Economic Empowerment and Peace Initiative (BSWEEP) designed a scholarship programme to support the less privileged amongst them to acquire formal education," she said.
In his remarks at the event, Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar commended the gesture of his wife towards the less privileged.
The governor, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Nadada Umar, said that the state government is in the support of any initiative aimed at taking the life of the vulnerable children to greater heights.
In his goodwill message, Head of Bauchi field office, UNICEF, Dr Abdullahi Kaikai, said that the event marked the beginning of limitless possibilities for the 115 beneficiaries.
Represented by Hajiya Hauwa Hassan, Kaikai stated that though education is a right for every living human being worldwide, dreams are robbed, minds suppressed, opportunities are limited or non-existent to those who do not have access to education.
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