Nigeria: Kaduna Govt Backs Reintegration of Adolescent Mothers Into Schools

The Kaduna State Government has pledged support for the reintegration of out-of-school adolescent mothers and survivors of child marriage into the formal education system.

The Commissioner of Education, Abubakar Sani Sambo, made the commitment during a meeting with the Teenage Network, a non-profit organisation promoting access to education for adolescent girls.

Sambo said the state government was ready to work with relevant stakeholders to ensure affected girls return to school.

"Kaduna State Government is prepared to collaborate with Teenage Network and provide the necessary support to ensure adolescent mothers are back in classrooms," he said.

Earlier, the Executive Director of Teenage Network, Olanike Timipa-Uge, sought government backing for a three-year advocacy initiative aimed at reintegrating adolescent mothers into the formal education system.

She stressed that keeping adolescent mothers out of school has far-reaching consequences.

Studies, she noted, have shown that children born to uneducated mothers are twice as likely to miss out on education and face higher risks of dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.

According to her, reintegrating adolescent mothers and child brides into school is necessary to curb intergenerational poverty and improve education, health and economic outcomes in the state.

The delegation also met with key stakeholders including the AGILE Project State Coordinator, Director of the Kaduna State Agency for Mass Literacy and Non-Formal Education, the Reaching Out of School Children (ROOSC) Project Coordinator, as well as the District Heads of Doka and Bunun Zazzau.

The organisation called for structured institutional coordination to facilitate the return of the girls to classrooms, adding that state-level data mapping has commenced across local government areas to identify flexible and sustainable reintegration models.

It further said engagement with traditional leaders underscored the need for social norm transformation, community mobilisation and accountability in advancing adolescent mothers' education.

The initiative, supported by the Malala Fund, is expected to strengthen collaboration between the state government and civil society groups to ensure that no girl is left out of Kaduna State's education plan.

Read the original article on Daily Trust.