Zamfara Community Blames Poverty for Rising Girls’ School Dropout Rate — Calls for Urgent Action

Some parents and guardians of school dropouts in Zamfara State’s Birnin Ruwa hamlet in the Gusau local government area have blamed poverty for the state’s high rate of school dropouts among girls.

During a community dialogue meeting with the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project consultant firm, Media Publicity Consult (MPC), some parents and guardians in Birnin Ruwa, Gusau, expressed their displeasure that the situation has forced their children to drop out of school.

“As the parents and guardians of our children, we attribute their school dropout to poverty; the current state of affairs prevents us from being able to assume responsibility for our children’s education.” They complained.

Additionally, some students who dropped out of school claimed that their parents were unable to provide their needs for school supplies, such as books, uniforms, transportation, and other requirements.

Professor Abubakar Aliyu Liman, speaking at the community dialogue meeting on behalf of Executive Chairman/CEO Media and Publicity Consult Malam Nasiru Usman Biyabiki, stated that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss with parents and guardians how to get out-of-school children back to school and enhance the state’s girls enrollment drive.

Biyabiki went on to say that AGILE and MPC had previously trained facilitators at the local government level to collect statistics on the state’s school dropout and non-enrollment rates.

I implore parents and child-rearing professionals to prioritize their children’s education. He made a plea.

Following the meeting, he stated that MPC would formally forward their opinions to Zamfara State AGILE for the following course of action.

Hundreds of members of the Birnin Ruwa communities and state MPC officials attended the meeting, which took place at Sarkin Kudu Government Girls ‘ Day Secondary School in Gusau.