Bauchi government seeks help over 1.5m out-of-school children

The Bauchi State government has expressed concern over the plight of 1.5 million out-of-school children in the state.

This was stated by the Deputy Governor of the state, Sen. Baba Tela, who represented the governor during a visit to the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs) in Abuja, recently.

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He said due to the Boko Haram insurgency, most displaced persons, including children from neighbouring Borno and Yobe states, trooped into Bauchi and over-stretched the state’s little resources.

He said the government had within the last five months built more schools across the state but that the estimated 1.5 million out-of-school children in the state was worrisome and appealed to the OSSAP-SDGs for assistance.

The deputy governor thanked the OSSAP-SDGs for the numerous interventions by the office in the state, especially in the areas of healthcare services, water, and education.

Responding, Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, assured the state government that her office would liaise with it to eradicate the problem, adding that education should be the number one socio-economic problem to tackle in the state.

She said the development issues are usually prioritised and that her office gives priority to education being critical not only to the development and well-being of the society, but also central to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).