Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State has announced a significant reduction in the number of out-of-school children in the state, bringing the figure down from over 2.2 million to fewer than 700,000, a 70% decrease.

Zulum made this statement during the inauguration of Government Secondary School, Mairi, a project supported by the World Bank, with Dr. Ndiame Diop, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, in attendance.

Governor Zulum said his administration has made substantial investments in education in the past five years, including the construction of 104 schools, the rehabilitation of 2,931 classrooms, and the distribution of millions of educational materials such as 20 million exercise books, 2 million textbooks, 15 million school uniforms, 700,000 school bags, and other learning tools.

The governor also said 50,000 pupils benefited annually from the state's school feeding programme while 10,000 bicycles were provided to help rural students overcome mobility challenges.

He said to address the educational needs of older out-of-school youths, the state has focused on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

Zulum said five vocational enterprise institutes, and two second-chance schools for women and girls were established while nine existing vocational training centres were reactivated to train 5,000 artisans annually, equipping them with skills for self-reliance and reducing unemployment.