Bauchi Targets 50% Reduction In Girls’ School Dropout By 2030

Bauchi State Government has unveiled a Gender in Education Policy for 2026–2030 and guidelines for the re-entry of married and pregnant adolescent girls into schools, targeting a 50 per cent reduction in girls’ school dropout rates.

The State Commissioner for Education, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, said the policy demonstrates the government’s commitment to ensuring that every child, regardless of gender, background, disability or personal circumstances, has equal opportunities to access, remain in and complete quality education.

Ibrahim spoke yesterday during the launch and public dissemination of the Bauchi State Gender in Education Policy (2026–2030) and the Guidelines for School Re-entry of Married and Pregnant Adolescent Girls.

He identified poverty, early marriage, adolescent pregnancy, insecurity, inadequate school facilities and discriminatory practices as major challenges affecting school enrolment, retention and completion in the state.

According to him, addressing the challenges requires deliberate policies, sustained investment and collective responsibility among government institutions, communities and development partners.

The commissioner pledged that the ministry would strengthen the dissemination and implementation of the policy across the state’s 20 local government areas to ensure that education authorities, school administrators, teachers and communities understand their responsibilities.

He added that the government would work towards ensuring that all public junior and senior secondary schools adopt and publicise the re-entry guidelines by 2027, alongside appropriate counselling, referral and protection mechanisms.

“No girl should be denied the opportunity to continue her education solely because she is married, pregnant or a young mother,” he said.

On funding, Ibrahim said the policy commits the state to progressively increasing resources for gender-responsive education, beginning with a minimum allocation target of two per cent of the education budget in 2026 and rising to five per cent by 2030.

He also pledged to improve coordination, monitoring and reporting through structures established under the policy’s implementation framework.

According to him, progress would be assessed based on improvements in school participation, learner safety, retention, re-entry and completion rather than activities alone.

Ibrahim commended the Young Leaders Network (YLN), Malala Fund, the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Project, UNICEF, technical teams, civil society organisations and other stakeholders for contributing to the development and validation of the documents.

Also speaking, the Bauchi State Coordinator of the AGILE Project, Hajiya Ladi Hamma, described the launch as a collective commitment to building an inclusive, equitable, safe and supportive education system.

She said the policy provides a framework for addressing gender disparities, promoting equal opportunities and protecting learners across the state’s education system.

Hamma explained that the implementation guidelines would translate the policy’s objectives into practical actions, responsibilities and approaches for relevant institutions and stakeholders.

She said the AGILE Project recognises education as a critical tool for empowering adolescent girls, improving their life chances and strengthening the social and economic development of communities.

According to her, the project supports efforts to improve girls’ access to secondary education, expand learning opportunities, provide life skills, strengthen safe spaces and address barriers preventing girls from achieving their educational aspirations.

She added that the launch provided an opportunity to align education interventions with the state’s commitment to gender-responsive and inclusive learning.

Hamma stressed that keeping girls in school and helping them succeed requires the involvement of parents, teachers, school administrators, traditional and religious leaders, government institutions and other stakeholders.

She also called for attention to the needs of boys, learners with disabilities and children from disadvantaged backgrounds to ensure that no learner is left behind.

The AGILE coordinator urged ministries, departments and agencies, local government education authorities, teachers, school-based management committees, parent-teacher associations, civil society organisations, development partners and community members to support the policy’s implementation.

In an overview of the policy, the Executive Director of the Young Leaders Network, Seun Onarinde, said the document seeks to establish a gender-responsive, inclusive, equitable and empowering education system for all learners, irrespective of their educational level.

He listed the policy’s targets to include reducing girls’ school dropout rates by 50 per cent, achieving gender parity in enrolment and completion, and reducing adult female illiteracy by 25 per cent.

Other targets include establishing gender desks in all public tertiary institutions and allocating 35 per cent of senior leadership positions in tertiary institutions to women by 2030.