The Sokoto State Government has reiterated its commitment to ensuring that every school-age child in the state is enrolled in school and completes at least basic education.

The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Prof. Ahmed Ala, stated this during an interview on Friday in Abuja.

A 2023/24 report by the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC) disclosed that Sokoto had 11,339 school dropouts, predominantly male students.

In response, the Sokoto State Government, in collaboration with UNICEF, had verified and registered about 249,523 vulnerable children, including out-of-school adolescent girls.

According to UNICEF, 113,208 of the children are almajirai, while 136,315 are adolescent girls.

Mr Ala noted that the administration of Governor Ahmed Aliyu was fully aware of the scale of the challenge and was implementing targeted interventions to address it.

He stated, “We are using community leaders and parents as part of the solution. So far, we have profiled 770 of such children. We have also established a digital village and informal learning schools. We found that some of the children were working on farms with their parents. To address this, learning centres now incorporate skills acquisition programmes, where students are paired with mentors already engaged in trades of interest. This is to ensure the students are mainstreamed into such businesses after learning the trade.’’

He added that the initiative allowed girls to combine basic literacy education with skills such as knitting, tailoring, and air freshener production.

“There is also the digital village where they gain computer knowledge and skills. With that knowledge, they can run online businesses. At the end of their training, they are given starter packs such as iPads and additional learning materials through the Nigeria Learning Passport App, an online platform,” Mr Ala said.

The commissioner stated that in collaboration with civil society organisations, the state government was working to establish new libraries and strengthen existing ones to revive the reading culture among young people.

(NAN)