Nigeria has more than 10 million out-of-school children, with the majority of them concentrated in the northern part of the country.
Taraba State is one of 17 states in the country benefiting from the Better Education Service Delivery for All, BESDA, a world bank assisted project to have out-of-school children return to school.
From attacks on schools and abduction of students by insurgents to internal displacement due to insecurity, and cultural practices, such as the almajiri syndrome, the northern child’s right to education has continued to come under threat.
Taraba State has remained a place of refuge to thousands of persons fleeing insurgency from other Northeast states, and even refugees that escaped the anglophone crisis in Cameroon; a situation that has reflected in the high number of out-of-school children.
The BESDA was launched in the state to have these out-of-school children return to the classroom.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Education said Taraba is one of 17 States benefiting from the world bank assisted project.
Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, said the training of teachers, employment of 3,000 new teachers, after weeding out the ghost ones, have steadily improved the education sector, which reflects the increase in the number of secondary schools from 264 to 305, as well as the better ranking for the Taraba State University, among universities in the country.
In the last 10 years, northern Nigeria, especially the Northeast has been bedevilled by insurgency and communal conflict, which has resulted in an increase in the number of out-of-school children.