Bauchi govt flags off 2025/2026 school enrollment campaign

The Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has officially launched the 2025/2026 Statewide Enrollment Campaign for basic education in collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The ceremony took place at the Government Secondary School in Kirfi, which serves as the headquarters of Kirfi Local Government Area (LGA) in the state.

During the campaign launch, the State Commissioner of Education, Dr. Muhammad Lawal Rimin Zayan, emphasized that the goal is to mobilize traditional rulers to actively participate in the school enrollment drive across the state.

The Commissioner assured attendees that the state government is undertaking substantial infrastructure improvements to accommodate students. He highlighted that while older structures are being rehabilitated and upgraded, new facilities are also being constructed throughout the state.

He praised SUBEB for its initiative to enhance basic education, stating that if the campaign is maintained, it will effectively address the issue of out-of-school children in the state.

Additionally, Commissioner Rimin Zayan mentioned the AGILE project, which aims to increase the enrollment of girls in schools, ensuring that girl-child education aligns with global best practices.

Finally, he commended UNICEF for its various contributions to the education sector in the state and called for further collaboration and support.

In her goodwill message, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF, Bauchi Field Office, Dr Nuzhat Rafique, stated that, “Let me start by thanking the State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed, for his excellence and dynamic leadership.”

According to her, “Few years back, there were more than 1.5 million out-of-school children but the number has been reduced by the effort of the governor with support from traditional, religious leaders, communities, parents and partners to bring the number to 500,000.”

Nuzhat Rafique added that,”This is a huge progress but still having 500,000 children out of school is one of the main goals for us to bring them also into schools.”

“Education is the right of every child. No child should be out of school and that is my humble request that as government is putting in policies, steps strategies to bring these children back to school, all communities, parents, guardians, should also make sure that every child of school age should be in the school,” she stressed.

Also speaking at the ceremony, Executive Chairperson of SUBEB, Adamu Mohammed Duguri, lamented the lack of enrolment of school-aged children in schools across the state saying that the development is setting the State back.

He stressed that though the Government is doing everything possible to improve on the quality of education at the Basic level, members of the community are not supportive of the efforts by not sending their children to school thereby increasing the number of out-of-school children in the State.