4m out-of-school children returned to classrooms, says FG

The Federal Government has announced that four million of the 20 million out-of-school children have returned to their schools.

According to numbers issued by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), 3,483,721 students have received direct interventions to improve their learning.

It attributed the success to the collaborative efforts of five agencies within the Federal Ministry of Education, stating that it has set an ambitious goal of enrolling three to four million out-of-school children in classrooms annually over the next three years, effectively transitioning them from the streets to schools.

Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, stated this in Abuja while presenting his ministerial scorecard for the last year.

According to data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Nigeria has more than 20 million out-of-school children, the largest in Africa and third globally.

According to Mamman, more than 53 million students are currently benefiting from its free and compulsory basic education programmes.

According to the Minister, the figure rose from 30,324,372 to 53,324,372, representing a 75.9% increase.

The Minister said: “Over four million young children have been brought to basic school and Arabic literacy programmes, including 200,500 learners with disabilities, through five agencies of the Federal Ministry of Education.

“In the last two weeks, over 20,000 out-of- school children have been registered in Abuja, and a similar exercise is ongoing across the country. Those who are above school age will be taught skills so that they can continue with their lives.

“We are targeting three to four million out-of- school children to be brought back to class every year for the next three years.”

The minister said over 85,662 teaching and non-teaching staff at all levels in various academic and non-academic institutions have been trained in the last year.

He added that more than 759,000 scholarships have been awarded to students within the same period.

The minister stated: “The ministry is working on the implementation of the approved welfare scheme for teachers, such as the Special Salary Scale for Teachers in Basic and Secondary Schools, Rural Posting Allowance, Science Teachers’ Allowance, and Special Teachers Pension Scheme.”

He also stated that the UBEC has supplied more than 40,000 facilities for basic and senior secondary education.

In the tertiary education sector, the minister stated that over 6,500 facilities had been supplied, including laboratories, faculty buildings, and auditoriums, among others.