Three Million Out-of-School Children in Kano Worrisome, Says Group

By Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

A group under the aegis of Kano Youth Organisation in Abuja (KAYOAB), has expressed worry over the three million out-of-school children in Kano State alone, and called on the state government to set up a committee to investigate the real causes of the problem and bring recommendations on ways of tackling the challenge.

The group in a statement issued yesterday by its Public Relations Officer, Alhassan Bala, also stressed the need for the state government to urgently provide more teachers and end the shortfall of infrastructure in over 8,280 government schools.

According to the group, “It is easy for the government to bring the statistics out, but it is also very important to know the cause, and also ways to solve it. This can only happen when government sets up an independent committee that will undertake a forensic investigation on the matter, with a view to nipping the menace in the bud.”

The number of out-of-school children in Kano is as high as the population of some states”, Bala said, stressing that with  the population of Kano State, 60,000 primary school teachers are not enough for with 4.4 million school children in the public schools across the state.

Bala stated, “The well-to-do Kano indigenes should also do something in the education sector so as to complement the efforts of the government in providing  education for all in the state.

“The statistics have shown that the state is in a time bomb, because when children are not educated, they can easily be involved in drug abuse or recruited into some criminal activities.

“We also want the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, to draw the attention of the well-to-do Kano indigenes and show them the implication of allowing the deteriorating state of the education sector in the state,” he said.