By The Adamawa State Government has raised concern over the growing number of out-of-school children, warning that the trend poses a serious risk to society as street children could easily become a burden to their communities.
The Commissioner for Education, Dr. Garba Pella, stated this on Monday in Yola while speaking to journalists as part of activities marking this year’s International Day for Education. He stressed that the state government places high priority on education delivery to ensure that every school-age child is enrolled in school.
According to him, the cost of educating children is minimal when compared to the long-term damage caused by illiteracy, poverty, and anti-social behaviour.
“Education arms our children against poverty. More importantly, every child must learn something. If you don’t get them into school for progressive ideas, they get into the street, learn bad manners, and may become a curse to society,” Pella said.
He described out-of-school children as potential societal burdens and announced that by next month, 5,000 teachers currently undergoing recruitment would be fully employed and deployed to classrooms across the state.
The new intake, he added, would complement the 2,000 teachers recruited in 2022 under the administration of Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, thereby improving access to quality education.
On reforms in the traditional Islamic education system (Tsangaya), the commissioner acknowledged challenges in fully converting the schools to western-style education. However, he noted that the government is making steady progress by integrating English and Mathematics into the Tsangaya curriculum as a first step toward broader educational inclusion.
