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Aisha Buhari Expresses Worry Over Increase In Out-Of-School Children In North
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Aisha Buhari/File Photo
Wife of Nigeria’s President, Aisha Buhari, has expressed worry and sadness over the increase in the population of out-of-school children in the North.
She made her feelings known during the inauguration of her pet project, Future Assured Youth Education and Empowerment Programme in Adamawa State.
Mrs. Buhari, who was represented by Dr. Abba Tahir, Vice-President American University of Nigeria, Yola, said her project would train 750 young persons in the state to help reduce the number of children not in school.
She, however, called for sustained actions to tackle the menace of out-of-school children in the country, adding that the situation requires urgent attention.
She said, “The case is most disheartening in the northern states where insurgency, poverty and our socio-cultural norms have played key roles in further worsening what is left of the ruins of dilapidated structures, insufficient and poorly motivated teachers at all levels.”
Mrs. Buhari said education deprivation in northern Nigeria was driven by factors such as economic barriers and socio-cultural norms and practices that discourage attendance in formal education, especially for girls.
She said, “We cannot abandon them. We must realise that all development issues are interrelated and unless we figure out a way of addressing the root causes in education, health, nutrition, agriculture and economic empowerment, holistically. We may never create a balance in our development.”
