Stakeholders Validate Bauchi State Gender in Education Policy, School Re-Entry Guidelines for Adolescent Girls

By Abubakar Ahmed

Stakeholders in the education sector have validated the draft Bauchi State Gender in Education Policy (BSGiEP) and the Guidelines for School Re-entry of Married and Pregnant Adolescent Girls, marking a major step towards domesticating the National Gender Policy in the state.

The validation workshop, held in Bauchi, was convened by the Young Leaders Network (YLN) under its Strengthening Advocacy for Girls’ Education (SAGE) Project, with support from the Malala Fund, the Bauchi State Ministry of Education, and the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Project. The engagement brought together key actors from the education sector and other relevant stakeholders expected to drive the implementation of the policy across all levels in the state.

Executive Director of YLN, Seun Justin Onarinde, said the exercise followed a series of participatory activities, including a co-creation workshop, stakeholder engagements and expert meetings, all geared towards producing a policy that reflects the realities of Bauchi State.

He noted that the policy aligns with the 2021 National Gender in Education Policy and global frameworks such as Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 5, stressing that it had been tailored to address Bauchi’s unique context.

“Today’s meeting is a defining moment in our collective journey to make education in Bauchi State truly inclusive, equitable and gender-responsive,” Onarinde said. “This policy is not a mere document; it is a commitment to the future of every child, especially the girl child, who is too often denied her right to learn due to early marriage, pregnancy, disability, poverty or insecurity.”

He commended the Bauchi State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Mohammed Lawal Rimin Zayam, for supporting the development of what he described as the first-of-its-kind framework that would guide gender-responsive planning, budgeting and implementation in the state.

Onarinde urged the Ministry to expedite the policy’s approval, printing and dissemination to all schools, and to establish the State Steering Committee as contained in the guidelines to fast-track implementation. He also called for the printing and dissemination of the Bauchi State Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools, which has already been finalised.

Responding, the Commissioner of Education, Dr. Mohammed Lawal Rimin Zayam, pledged the Ministry’s commitment to the domestication and implementation of the policy and acknowledged the recommendations presented by YLN and other stakeholders.

“Our Department of Planning will work out modalities for the actualization of this policy and its guidelines. I assure you that the Ministry, my directors and all concerned will work tirelessly to ensure its full implementation,” he said.

Dr. Rimin Zayam added that with the revitalisation of the Education Resource Centre by Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, the Ministry was now in a position to print and disseminate the policy once the final document is submitted.

Participants at the workshop undertook technical review sessions and a plenary validation process, during which inputs were harmonised and adopted. The exercise ended with the official endorsement of the policy by stakeholders.
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With the validation completed, attention now shifts to state approval, dissemination and full institutional adoption of the policy by the Bauchi State Ministry of Education.