The Kaduna State Government has launched a campaign to enrol children for the 2026/2027 academic session, weeks after identifying 187,719 out-of-school children through its latest education census and mapping exercise.
The campaign led by the Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (KADSUBEB), commenced on Wednesday with a sensitisation walk in Kaduna. During the exercise, officials engaged parents, guardians and community members on the importance of enrolling school-age children.
Mubarak Muhammad, Executive Chairman of KADSUBEB, said the campaign was aimed at encouraging parents and guardians to register their children for the new academic session.
Muhammad said several children approached officials during the sensitisation exercise at Kaduna Central Market and expressed their willingness to return to school. He added that the children would be registered and enrolled.
The latest education mapping exercise, unveiled by the State Government in July, identified 187,719 children as being out of school across the State’s 23 Local Government Areas. The exercise also found that more than 91 per cent of affected households cited poverty as the primary reason their children were not enrolled.
Muhammad had previously said the State had reduced its estimated out-of-school population from more than 500,000 to approximately 187,000 children. He noted that about 60% of those identified had never attended school, while the remainder had dropped out.
He said the State Government had constructed more than 2,000 classrooms to accommodate increased enrolment during the new academic session.
The development comes against the backdrop of broader education infrastructure interventions in Kaduna. Earlier in February, KADSUBEB distributed 174,366 textbooks, 190,175 exercise books and 32,343 school uniforms to public schools across the state.
Iliya Duniya, Permanent Secretary of the Kaduna State Ministry of Information and Culture, described the enrolment campaign as a “war against illiteracy” and urged parents and guardians to take advantage of free public education in the state.
Ibrahim Musa, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Uba Sani, also urged parents to enrol their children, stating that public schools in Kaduna were free and provided access to religious education.
The campaign comes as Kaduna prepares for the 2026/2027 academic session. The Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority has released the approved academic calendar for the session, covering basic and post-basic public and private schools across the state.
The State Government’s education sector plan has also established targets for improving enrolment and completion rates, including a 2026 target of 97 per cent for net enrolment in lower and middle basic education.
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