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Wife
of Bauchi State governor, Hajiya Hadiza Abubakar, has awarded
scholarships to 115 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and vulnerable
children.
The scholarship was
provided to the beneficiaries through her Non-Governmental Organization
(NGO), Bauchi Sustainable Women Economic Empowerment and Peace
Initiative (BSWEEP).
Speaking during the
occasion, Mrs Abubakar stated that the scholarship was given to the
beneficiaries to help them acquire education which she said is the
bedrock of national development.
She added that the
beneficiaries were drawn from IDPs in the state, vulnerable children as
well as 15 selected female pupils with special needs from Special
Education Centre, Yelwa, Bauchi.
Mrs Abubakar further
informed that 50 of the beneficiaries are in junior secondary schools,
while 50 others are in senior secondary school.
She said that the
scholarship covers registration fees, guardian and counselling fees,
computer registration, PTA levy, set of uniforms and compound wears,
pairs of sandals and socks, English and Mathematics textbooks as well as
exercise books.
According to the
governor's wife, children with disability are 10 times less likely to
attend school than those without disability.
She noted that even if
they attend school they are more likely to drop out early and the level
of education they receive is frequently below that of their peers and
that girls with disabilities experience greater exclusion and
discrimination as a result of their disabilities and gender.
"To address this and
shape future of the IDPs, vulnerable children as well as those with
special needs to become more productive in the society, the Bauchi
Sustainable Women Economic Empowerment and Peace Initiative (BSWEEP)
designed a scholarship programme to support the less privileged amongst
them to acquire formal education," she said.
In his remarks at the event, Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar commended the gesture of his wife towards the less privileged.
The governor, who was
represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji
Nadada Umar, said that the state government is in the support of any
initiative aimed at taking the life of the vulnerable children to
greater heights.
In his goodwill
message, Head of Bauchi field office, UNICEF, Dr Abdullahi Kaikai, said
that the event marked the beginning of limitless possibilities for the
115 beneficiaries.
Represented by Hajiya
Hauwa Hassan, Kaikai stated that though education is a right for every
living human being worldwide, dreams are robbed, minds suppressed,
opportunities are limited or non-existent to those who do not have
access to education.
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